


The Burning Down

by Rudester_Rudie



Category: Joshscorcher, Youtube RPF
Genre: An attempt at a Twilight Zone narrative was made, Evil!Josh, It's long too and a bit cheesy but I had fun writing it, One Shot, Repost from my other accounts, Something nobody asked for, This has some blood and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 12:37:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11036331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rudester_Rudie/pseuds/Rudester_Rudie
Summary: Joshscorcher is haunted by a demon... A demon that torments him relentlessly... Why? Who knows. Some people just want to watch the world burn, don't they?





	The Burning Down

**Author's Note:**

> I reposted this from my tumblr and another place I won't tell you, due to my anxiety. The Fiery Joker isn't my idea, it sprang from the mind of my friend Jo! This whole thing was proofread by my friend Cricket (tho thanks to my bad english there's probably many other mistakes left.)! I hope you enjoy it!

The Burning Down

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

The narrator enters the room, a bible in one hand, and his other hand adjusting his reading glasses slightly, the rather dim light of the room reflecting in the lenses.  
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  
The narrator looked up from his bible.

“Isaiah 41:10.”

He closed the book and put it on the table, taking off his reading glasses.

“Faith is something many people cling on to in their times of needs when they’re combating an illness, struggling against their own sinful thoughts, seeking answers, or simply because of their own upbringing.”

The narrator picked up the bible again.

“Tonight’s story is about Joshua Burner, a man of faith who is plagued by a flaming demon that inhabits his mind and tries to gain control over him. Can his faith keep this hellish monster at bay? Watch his struggle as he enters… The Twilight Zone” 

 

It was midnight, or near enough and Josh sat at his desk, working. He was tired and had the radio turned on so he wouldn’t fall asleep. He tapped his pen on the surface of his desk and tried to concentrate, but being as tired as he was right now made it really difficult. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed frustrated, noting just how warm it was in his room.

He had to open a window if he wanted to get some shut eye in here. He didn’t even realize how high the heating had been turned on; he should turn it down a little just to regulate the temperature. Josh rubbed his eyes, feeling exhaustion creeping up on him as he returned to his seat, letting the room cool down a little.  
‘What time is it…?’ he thought to himself, side eyeing the clock: It was midnight by now and he still wasn’t done, a fact that bothered him to no end.  
He had two options: Sleep now, or finish up and sleep later but get less rest.

Difficult choices.

He watched the curtains sway in the light breeze, making up his mind, trying to find the best solution.

Sleep.

Work.

What was healthier?

Choices, Choices…

Josh decided to keep working; after all he couldn’t just leave this unfinished now could he? Currently playing on the radio was some song from the 80s called ‘The Burning Down’.  
Not that it mattered, it was slowly ending anyway from what he could tell.

‘And the world keeps spinning round  
A vicious cycle turning  
Some of them know love  
Some of us know the burning down’

He turned off the radio, since it wasn’t really helping anymore and was only getting on his nerves.  
The thought occurred to him that sleeping might have been the better option, but it was too late to complain, it was technically too late to work as well, but whatever.  
Josh noted that the room still hadn’t cooled down. He had to sleep with the windows open, it seemed. It surely would come back to bite him in the ass tomorrow, when he woke up in the shivering cold, but it was better than sweating all night and waking up feeling icky and terrible.

He was finally done and put the pen down in defeat.

“Finally!” He simply exclaimed, as if confirming to himself that he could go to bed and deal with any mistakes he made tomorrow after a few hours of sleep. He checked the clock again and noticed that it just stopped at midnight.  
Great.

He had to get batteries tomorrow.

Add that to the seemingly never ending to-do list.

But for now almost nothing really mattered. All that mattered was getting to bed as soon as possible. He brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas and went to bed. The lights were out and he was in bed, but something was off.

It was still hot in here, above the usual room temperature. He looked over to the tilted windows. He wouldn’t open them up completely; it didn’t seem like a good idea, he could only hope the room would cool down over night. Josh closed his eyes, putting away the blanket since it was too hot for that, and fell asleep.

Or at least tried, the heat made it difficult for him.

Why was it still so hot in this room? He turned off the heating, right? Maybe he was coming down with a fever or something. This couldn’t be it either though, he would be feeling sick otherwise.

He decided to shake that feeling off and just sleep.

After a bit, he finally dozed off.

He had a strange dream.

 

Josh stood inside a cubic looking room alone and confused. The walls, ceiling and floor seemed to be made out of iron, without a door and without any windows, but that was all he could make out in the scarcely lit room. He looked around, trying to recognize any other details but found nothing else.

No furniture, nothing at all.

Slowly the room started to heat up, little flames starting to flicker on his clothes that he quickly put out and he suddenly realized where he stood in: An incinerator room of sorts.  
Josh quickly walked to a wall and started knocking against it with his fist, ignoring the burning sensation surging through his body with every single hit.  
Without warning a coffin formed around him and he was trapped in flesh melting heat inside this coffin.

“LET ME OUT!” he shouted, now knocking against the coffin and he realized that the thing was catching fire slowly but surely, he slightly panicked, until he remembered that it was a dream and if he could try to gain control over it, he could escape quickly, just lucid dreaming his way out, something he was strangely good at.  
The furnace kept heating up and he felt his skin slowly peel off in the melting heat as the coffin burned more, just standing felt like he stood upon hot coals and after a while that appeared to be an eternity, he managed to conjure up a revolver.

He grinned to himself, wheezing slightly since breathing in this scorching hot air was unbearable and agonizing.  
Without hesitation he tried to wiggle his arm upwards to press the muzzle of the gun against his forehead, he was sweating, he couldn’t concentrate and he could barely breath.  
Finally he pressed the muzzle against his forehead and pulled the trigger.

The gun shot echoed within a seemingly never ending darkness and Josh saw himself in the coffin bleeding and dead and being slowly incinerated…

 

He woke up with a slight gasp and drenched in sweat.  
Exactly that happened, what he didn’t want and had tried to avoid by keeping the windows open; Waking up, feeling sweaty and icky and the sudden rush of adrenaline he had from killing himself didn’t exactly do any good either.

He sat up and tried to calm his breathing, tried to get a grip on reality.

He checked his phone and groaned.

Three in the morning…

So a quick shower wasn’t an option right now.

“Do I really have to go back to sleep like This…?” he muttered to himself kind of annoyed, before noticing that it was still hot in the room, despite the windows having been open for three hours by now. He stood up and walked over to the heater, using his phone as a makeshift flashlight to check if it was on again and he looked on slightly confused: The heater was off, the windows were open.

What was going on?

He opened up the windows completely, maybe some more cold would come in and finally resolve this issue but something told him it was rather pointless. That incinerator nightmare probably came from the heat in his room, so he had to just accept it.

He went back to bed and for a second he felt a looming present behind him. Josh turned around and caught a glimpse of two crimson dots, before this strange feeling of something or someone behind him, vanished.

“…I need to sleep.” He said awkwardly, stepping backwards and going to bed. He laid there, staring at the ceiling. He could hear soft footsteps, or maybe he just imagined it.  
And maybe he just imagined something grabbing his hand.

He explained it to himself with the strange heat in the room and the sudden rush of adrenaline after this nightmare.  
That had to be it, right?

He closed his eyes and tried to relax. He had to get up pretty early so every bit of sleep counted and he couldn’t just let his imagination play tricks on him under these circumstances. He shifted around on his mattress to find a good position and tried to ignore the heat.

He calmed down.

Everything was okay.

He ignored this feeling of being watched and ignored the ever looming presence.

It was all in the mind.

 

Josh woke up in the cold, he could’ve sworn the temperature in his room was below zero it was that cold in here.  
“Oh Shoot!” It was more a statement of surprise if anything as he quickly wrapped the blanket around himself but stopped after realizing that it really wasn’t helping. He stood up, taken aback by how cold the floor felt underneath his bare feet. He walked over to the windows and closed them, and then he proceeded to turn on the heaters again.

“I knew I shouldn’t have opened the windows. That was an awful… AWFUL… idea.”

Josh just wanted to get dressed as soon as possible, lest he wanted to get a cold in here. Slightly shivering he put on his clothes and felt a tad better after that, felt a bit warmer.  
That was a start.

Josh yawned and put everything into his backpack before going to his classes. He kept telling himself that the events from last night didn’t really happen and that it was all just a figment of his imagination.

What else could it have been?

Even though he hadn’t really found a reasonable explanation beyond his mind playing tricks on him, he settled with that as he was in no mood to dwell on this.  
At all.

He had important things to concentrate on.

 

The morning went on and nothing unusual happened and he found himself at ease. He had his lunch break and went to afternoon classes and soon enough he forgot about this strange night he had, he even bought the batteries for the clock. All he had to worry about now was homework…  
Josh, once again, sat at his desk working. It wasn’t as much as last time so he could get to bed earlier. The radio was on and he tapped his pen to the music, whenever he wasn’t writing.

The radio suddenly turned off. Josh looked at it and turned it on again, only to hear nothing but static.  
“Hm. Alright then.” He wasn’t going to question it and just turned off the radio completely.

He didn’t really like this sudden silence though, but whatever.

Nothing to worry about. He wasn’t going to get hurt right?

There was this looming presence again and he felt something akin to a warm caressing sensation on his face. Josh stood up and turned around.  
Nothing.

It was alright, there was nothing he had to be afraid of, at least he kept telling himself that to keep this strange feeling away. It felt like someone was observing him, from somewhere…

What if he was being watched by someone or… something?

“Pft, that’s stupid.” He mumbled and twitched slightly when the radio turned on by itself and was simply playing some pop tunes.

Josh let out an uneasy chuckle and plugged out the radio. “That’s enough music. I can do without.”

Now there was nothing but uneasy silence again and he sat at his desk, trying to continue his work.

He hummed a bit to fill this suffocating silence, silence that he usually didn’t mind but something seemed different tonight…  
He looked through the window and for a second he saw two crimson eyes glaring at him. Josh rubbed his eyes and looked at the window again.  
They were gone.

“I’m probably not getting enough sleep. Yeah that must be it. Not enough sleep.”

That and the ungodly amount of horror games he had to play for his Halloween countdown.

The countdown was a while ago. Maybe the atmosphere in these games was so good that they just wouldn’t leave him alone.

Made sense to him, well, sense in the meaning of wanting a quick explanation so he had a reason to not be afraid. It was odd though; Josh wasn’t someone to be scared easily, then why was he feeling this odd sensation, one of dread, one of anticipation for the worst?

He had no answer.

The radio was in the drawer of his commode and he had showered, before changing into his pajama. One time not doing homework wouldn’t be the end of the world, besides those were for the afternoon classes, he could just finish it during lunch or something. He just wanted the night to be over as soon as possible. He went to bed, suddenly feeling sick.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

It must’ve been around 4 am, when he was woken up by something. He got up slightly dazed and tired and tried to focus on the sudden noise. The floor felt cold, so at least he didn’t have to deal with that heat from the night before.

The sound seemed to be static.

He opened the drawer and saw the radio in there. It was turned on and static was coming out of it.  
“It’s not even plugged in…” Josh grabbed the radio and inspected it, even taking out the batteries.  
The static noise remained, Josh kept staring at the radio and a strange gut feeling told him to get out of there. He put the radio on his desk and kept on staring. He couldn’t look away for some reason, something just… Drew him to it.  
The static seemed to become more echoed and distant as if the radio was far away from him.  
It had become a bit darker than usual in his room and colder too, yet he didn’t pay any mind to it.  
His vision grew blurry and suddenly the radio crackled slightly, the static stopped and an unknown raspy voice read something that seemed to be a poem… A very old poem, the only sound that came with the reading was a slight crackling in the background as if there was a fire burning in the background.

“”Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly,  
‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy;  
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,  
And I’ve a many curious things to show when you are there.”

He picked up the radio and kept looking at it and suddenly felt something inching closer… And almost mechanically Josh spoke along to the next lines, his voice distant and almost estranged, he didn’t recognize the sounds coming from his mouth…

“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,  
For who goes up your winding stair, can ne'er come down again.”

He suddenly felt like he was choking and he had difficulty breathing. He dropped the radio that broke and started coughing violently, shaking slightly from the sudden shock. He gasped for air and was kneeling on the ground, until he recalled…

No gasping.

You’ll panic more.

Calm breathing.

He was still kneeling but this time trying to regulate his breathing, wheezing slightly. The room went back to normal and the radio was broken.  
Josh snapped back to reality and breathed calmly, picking up the broken radio and putting it back on his desk.  
There wasn’t even static coming out of it. Josh sat on his bed and stared off into nothing.

He was tired.

There wasn’t even a rush of adrenaline, he just felt uncomfortably empty. He laid down and stared at the ceiling, trying to keep himself warm since he felt a sudden coldness going through him.

Maybe he was getting sick.  
Who knows?

He closed his eyes, clutching his blanket as if his life depended on it and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t get whatever just happened out of his head.  
Did it even happen?

He tried to find a reasonable explanation…

Sleepwalking.

Of course.

He must’ve been sleepwalking, that was the only explanation. People sleepwalk when they’re stressed, maybe some start hallucinating. He started chuckling again, a forced chuckle that was supposed to shake of this strange feeling he had. He wasn’t… ‘Scared’ Per se, he just felt a bit uneasy…  
Josh stood up and grabbed a crucifix necklace from a drawer and put it on his bedside table and he felt safer.  
He fell asleep and didn’t dream anything, or if he did, he probably simply didn’t remember it.

Josh woke up, feeling dazed and confused. His whole body was cold and he just wasn’t awake at all, his head hurt and he felt like throwing up.  
Maybe he should call in sick? No, he’d be better by noon. Josh got up, rubbing his eyes so his vision would be less blurred and he did his usual morning routine, if a bit halfhearted due to exhaustion.

It didn’t get any better in class. Just like the radio last night, everything was echoed and distant, the words seemed to melt through him and he could barely register anything.  
He wondered if he’d get in a lot of trouble for falling asleep in class.

Maybe.

Probably…

The teacher was saying something to him, but he could barely register it, the teacher’s lips were moving but he couldn’t really understand a word.

“Huh?” Josh asked sleepy.

“I said, you should go to the nurse’s office, you look sick.” 

“…I’m okay. Just a bit tired.” He muttered as response. The teacher raised an eyebrow then just said “Okay, but if you’re not feeling well, you should really just go to the nurse.”  
Josh nodded and tried to stay awake, he’d go through the morning, after all one energy drink could fix him up and it’d be alright again.  
He’d try and get through the day, it certainly wouldn’t kill him and after all, he’s had it far worse.

During lunch he had an energy drink and something to eat, while simultaneously working on his unfinished homework. It wasn’t that much and he was done by the end of it.  
He rubbed his eyes again, since everything was starting to get blurry again and he just wanted the effects of the energy drink to set in already.  
He stood up to get to the afternoon classes.

The hallway was oddly empty when he walked it down. Nobody else was here. It was strangely dark too, the lights would flicker occasionally…  
And here it was again, this feeling of being watched.

He looked on and in front of him was nothing but a seemingly never ending darkness.

Wait this couldn’t be right.

He rubbed his eyes again, but the darkness remained. Josh stood still, feeling a chill going down his spine as he felt something, or someone grabbing his shoulder.  
Deep within the darkness was a glow…

Two red dots glaring right at him and they seemed to be coming closer…

The same dots he had seen before. This couldn’t just be his imagination, right? Something was there, or maybe he didn’t get enough sleep…  
But people don’t start hallucinating after only one night of not enough sleep, it usually took up to 72 sleepless hours, at least if he remembered correctly.  
The grip around his shoulder got tighter and someone was shouting at him, snapping Josh out of this weird state, before he could properly see who these red dots belonged to.

“Hey, don’t just stand there, fucking go, you’ll be late!” Someone told him and Josh smiled sheepishly. “Uh, yeah, yeah… Sorry…” He walked on.

Had he just stood there?

He checked his watch. “Dang it…” He started running, he’d really be late otherwise.

How long had he just stood there?

He arrived too late in class and his teacher scolded him for it as expected.  
The rest of the day continued and seemingly dragged on, but Josh just couldn’t focus on it or on anything the teacher said. He was still trying to piece together what happened in that hallway and why he had been hallucinating…  
Had he even been…?

Yes, of course he was hallucinating! This couldn’t have been real at all, right? None of this was real!

Josh felt something warm on his shoulder, but he didn’t dare look. As if he wouldn’t like what he’d see…

If there was anything at all.

This warm feeling moved from his shoulder to his neck, then the back of his neck.

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying to shake off that feeling of something touching him.

The feeling stopped and just like last night he felt empty and alone. He tried to force himself to pay attention at least a little bit, but his head started hurting and he was tired. Maybe he just needed another energy drink to get through the rest of afternoon, as unhealthy as it was… He’d sleep tonight, no matter what, he didn’t even care if he’d have a nightmare, a nightmare couldn’t hurt him after all, they weren’t real…

His hands clutched tightly around his pen, he was trying to distract himself by taking notes, if he took his mind off of this, everything would go back to normal, at least that’s what he hoped. He found himself doodling in his notebook. He supposed that was fine too, as long as he didn’t have to think about… any of these things.  
The red dots that always seemed to be watching him when he was alone…

He kept on doodling, trying to ignore the slight headache and looked at what he had drawn…

Two red eyes…

He ripped out the page from the notebook and just crumbled it.

 

The lesson was over and he could finally go back to his dorm to try and get some sleep tonight. He stood up and looked at the crumbled piece of paper on his desk, deciding to just throw it in the paper bin and not think about it anymore. Didn’t matter anyway, it’s not like he still felt watched… Josh looked around and walked out of the classroom with a rather uncomfortable expression. It felt like a gaze was on him wherever he went, but it wasn’t from anyone he knew… It was an entity, a being that couldn’t be defined.

He shook his head.

That was a stupid thought.

He wanted to get to his room and just be alone.

He felt this warm presence again and it vanished as quickly as it had appeared and when it vanished he felt empty again. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, so Josh just ignored everyone and walked past them, even if they tried to approach him.

‘”I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;  
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly.’ an unknown voice spoke to him, a mere whisper amongst the voices of other people, yet loud and distinct.

This warm presence wrapped itself around him.

‘“There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,  
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”’

What was that voice? Where did the lights go? Josh stood still, but reminded himself… That was all in his mind. He went on, not answering to the mysterious voice in his head, he kept walking into the dark hallway and he could hear something behind him, something that was scratching against the wall, footsteps, and a low chuckle. He felt heat behind him and he wanted to see what it was…

He shook his head and felt his lips move again, but what came out felt distant again…

‘“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,  
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”’

And he felt the presence behind him again, a low chuckle, he could feel people looking at him, had he said these words out loud?  
And stood somebody behind him still?

Should he check?

That’d require him to turn around and if he’d just ignore this, if he’d walk on to his room and grab his crucifix necklace, he’d feel safe. Josh felt this heat underneath his shirt as if something or someone had slipped their hand underneath the fabric. He clenched his teeth, tried to conceal this feeling of being uncomfortable, as he walked through the darkness, darkness as thick as molasses that seemed to be intruding his body. He shook off the feeling, ignored this sensation of being caressed and being grabbed. His hand wrapped around the knob of his door and suddenly everything became normal. He didn’t even bother to start his homework, he just grabbed his crucifix first and clutched it tightly so he would be safe again. It was calming him, so Josh mustered up the strength to start working, but he felt so exhausted…  
His body was fighting him, he needed rest, but he had to get this done first. He grabbed a pen and just started writing, his windows were open once again so he could get some fresh air in here. He couldn’t concentrate, he simply couldn’t and the room started to smell odd.

Smoke?

He closed the windows again, thinking that maybe the smoke was coming from outside. The smell remained though and he started to feel watched again.

‘Turn around’

It was a phrase scratched into his notebook with what seemed to be a knife. Josh didn’t want to turn around, maybe he had to. The smell of smoke and singed fabric intensified and he finally turned around, to face whatever or whomever was behind him.

There was no one, but that wasn’t the part that scared him: On the ground were flaming footprints and he could feel this warm sensation again, as if someone was pressing him against the table and caressing his face.

He suddenly couldn’t move anymore, but why?

This presence persisted and circled him and Josh was able to free at least his arm from this strange paralysis. He grabbed the crucifix and held on to it and he could feel the presence back off from him, a slight hiss echoed within his mind.

The presence tried to approach him and he could feel a stinging pain in his side and saw a wound forming and an instinct told him to kill himself, before this thing killed him. The crucifix in his hand turned into a dagger and without much thinking, he slashed it across his throat.

He wasn’t bleeding, but he felt something else leave his body.

“Clever little fly…” a voice said and the flaming footprints slowly vanished. Josh felt empty again and he just felt weak, his legs felt like they couldn’t support his body weight anymore, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, still holding the crucifix.

Josh woke up.

It was all just a nightmare again.

He was on the ground still though, feeling sweaty and disgusting, holding tightly onto the crucifix, as if his life depended on it. He wouldn’t go to class today, he felt sick, he just wanted to stay in bed all day and not talk to anyone, he was just so exhausted.  
Josh checked the time on his phone.

4.44 am.

He got up and instinctively rubbed his neck. He felt dizzy and was rather thankful that the light hadn’t been turned off. He glanced over his books and stopped at one breathing shaking.

No…

One of the notebooks had ‘Turn around’ scratched in. But how? It was a dream! He looked at the floor and saw drops of blood. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed the book, walked over to the bathroom and got a towel to clean the blood that may or may not have been there.

He wasn’t sure.

He just didn’t want to look at it, it didn’t matter if it was there or just a figment of his imagination. With the slightly blood stained towel in hand he walked over to the bathroom to wring it out and forget all about it. Maybe he had hurt himself while falling and had started bleeding because of that, this must’ve been, or maybe the blood wasn’t there…  
He turned on the faucet of the sink and used shampoo to get most of the stains out. Almost robotic he tried to clean the towel and was seemingly making it worse. He sighed, looking uneasy at his reflection and he saw something…

These red dots.

Josh dropped the towel and looked at his slightly bloody hands. Was he still dreaming? Was he sleepwalking? No, he needed closure and he needed it right now. He left the towel in the sink, grabbed his phone and the notebook with the scratched in message, and photographed it, then he send the picture to his brother Jeremy via Skype.  
After five minutes he got an answer and he was a bit hesitant to read it: What if the blood, the message… Everything was real?

He looked at the response that came a few minutes later and felt his heart drop in relief.

‘yeah thats your notebook alright. now what??’

‘There’s nothing weird about it?’ Josh wrote back.

‘idk its…late what should be there josh? its your notebook thats literally all there is and its like 5 am soon so what is there supposed to be?’

‘It’s okay, never mind. Sorry for waking you up.’

‘you should be sorry. good night.’

‘Good night.’

He put his phone away and looked at his blood stained hands and the notebook with the scratched in message. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands. He was hallucinating, maybe due to stress coupled with lack of sleep. He didn’t turn on the light, since he didn’t want ‘blood’ on the light switch, even if he knew it wasn’t really there, he didn’t want to see it anywhere anymore. He opened the faucet again and washed his hands, the silence was kind of suffocating to him. He looked at his reflection and saw something that shouldn’t be there…

A shadowy figure.

He knew that in the dark, the brain makes up shapes in reflections out of boredom… But that figure had red glowing eyes and it stood there, watching him. He could feel it grin a bit. Josh started smelling smoke again and he realized that it came from the figure. The figure reached out a hand and softly caressed his face, leaving a coal smudge on it.  
‘…’ The figure grinned at him and vanished, so did the blood and the coal smudge on his face. Josh looked at his clean, wet, hands.

Hallucinations.

None of this was real, why would any of this be real?

He stumbled back to his bedroom, grabbed the crucifix and lied down, awake all night and holding the crucifix.

 

He forced himself to get up.

He forced himself to shower and do his morning routine.

Every movement was mechanical and unnatural to him out of this exhaustion. Josh put the crucifix into his backpack and stared at the door, the events of last night had kind of worried him, the hallucinations, the nightmares… He wondered just how long this would go on for and if he shouldn’t just go and get professional help… Well, maybe it was all just from not sleeping enough, after all, he read about far worse side effects then the ones he was going through right now and the reply from Jeremy, regarding his notebook had put him somewhat at ease and confirmed his suspicion that this would all be solved if he got just a bit more sleep than he had gotten lately…

Then why did he have this strange sensation when he grabbed the door handle? It felt foreboding, as if he wouldn’t like what was outside… Josh shook his head. “Okay now you’re overreacting…” He mumbled to himself and just kept staring at his door, feeling his heart beat a bit faster. He wanted to step back from it, but finally he forced himself to open the door and stepped outside. It was odd; The lights seemed much more duller and a bit darkened, the shadow he casts looked unnatural and long, everything was odd this morning, even the hallway was… strangely empty.

He was tired, he wanted to go back to bed and just sleep for a bit more.

He kept on going and nobody was paying any attention to him as he made his way through the hallway, coming across lights that were occasionally flickering. Nobody was speaking and that set him off a little… Why was everyone so quiet?

Josh suddenly stopped and looked at the end of the hallway.

Darkness.

The few students that were there also stopped and turned around, all of them facing him, they had empty and tired expressions and their bodies… Their bodies were littered with burn marks and the air started to fill up with the smell of smoke and singed hair. He tried to walk backwards, but only hit a wall. The other people walked towards him, stiff and every step and movement they made created cracking sounds, as if they were all in a state of Rigor mortis and they were all being moved by an outside force. They cornered him and ice cold, dead hands grabbed him, he could hear the disgusting sound of cracking knuckles as their nearly skeletal hands closed themselves around his limbs and dragged him through the hallway, into the darkness.

Josh tried to shake them off, struggled as much as he could, every instinct told him to stay away from the darkness and as he looked up he saw those red eyes he saw last night, this time the figure had one hand stretched out to him, beckoning, as if inviting him.

“W-Who are you?!” Josh yelled towards him, as the dead students dragged him closer to it. He was finally let go, mere inches before the darkness and the being snapped its fingers. With agonized screeches, all these corpse like figures burst into flames and left behind nothing but a pile of ashes. Josh tried to crawl away again, but he once again only hit a wall.

“…” The being seemed hesitant. The eyes were now sideways, as if it was tilting its head and observing him. Josh used this moment to slowly reach into his backpack and get out his crucifix. It felt pleasantly warm in his hand and it made him feel safe. The being before him seemed to recoil.

“…” It let out another hiss, obviously annoyance and Josh could hear a voice echoing in his mind ‘I’ll catch you off guard, you can’t always carry this thing around…’  
Josh clung onto the crucifix.

‘It makes you feel safe, it makes you feel like you’re being protected, but I’ll get you, I’ll catch you when you’re unprepared, I’ll wait until you’re too tired to resist, little fly…’  
Josh closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was in his bed, still holding the crucifix. Did he fall asleep? Was everything leading up to right now just a dream? Only one way to find out… Josh grabbed his phone, dully noting that he had overslept, and opened the Skype app…

There was the exchange he had with his brother. But what did that mean?

He pieced together that he had fallen asleep after that brief… spike of weirdness and had that nightmare. He kept staring upwards and called in sick, still gazing blankly at the ceiling. He didn’t even register the voices from his phone and just passively answered to everything. Did he want to sleep?

Should he sleep?

He didn’t want another nightmare…

“No, I’ll sleep and then this will all be over.” He told himself and snuggled into bed and closed his eyes, just for once did he want to sleep for eight hours without a nightmare, without waking up in the middle of the night.

Even with his eyes forced shut, he couldn’t sleep. There was always this feeling of being observed, something scratching on the door, smoke from underneath the bed… His head hurt so much, his temples were throbbing and Josh needed something against headaches. An Aspirin would help… Did he have any aspirins?

He wasn’t sure.

Josh turned in his bed and faced the wall, holding on to the crucifix. He blinked a bit and once again forced his eyes shut, he would sleep, he would make the hallucinations stop, he would make the exhaustion stop and he’d never see this figure again.

He felt his body relax and succumb to the lack of sleep and he could’ve sworn, before he fell asleep he heard a voice whisper ‘Good night Josh…’

 

Josh’s eyes snapped open and he stood within an unknown place. It wasn’t a cave, it wasn’t a building, it was… Nothing. As if he was standing in an endless dark void, as if that darkness he had just tried to escape had gotten to him.

It was cold and he wasn’t holding the crucifix.

He felt alone.

Josh stood there, he wouldn’t walk away, he’d get lost in the darkness and never come back… At least it felt that way. He sat down and just kept staring at the ground. He wanted to wake up so badly, there was a deafening silence, it felt like walls were closing in on him.

He was forced to lie down on his back by an invisible force and he suddenly felt paralyzed, as if something had taken away control from him. He felt utterly powerless.  
He wanted to say something but had no energy to do so.

He heard footsteps again and the dark figure that had been following him for so long… At least it seemed for so long. The figure leaned down to him and he could see it grin at him, in the darkness only its teeth and its red eyes were visible.

Josh couldn’t fight back, he couldn’t do anything. The figure put what felt like a boot on Josh’s chest and leaned down even more, so that their eyes met directly. Josh couldn’t see the figure’s face, but he could make out a slight silhouette, as if the thing was becoming more and more physical.

He could feel two fingers grabbing his chin, his heart rate going faster and faster and he could feel his blood rushing… He had to remind himself that this was just a dream that he could escape… But he couldn’t move…

He couldn’t even breathe properly.

‘Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend what can I do,  
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?  
I have within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;  
I’m sure you’re very welcome — will you please to take a slice?”’

The figure spoke with an eerie joy in its voice, as if it was relishing in this, in having Josh under its boot. It started to form circles with its thumb around the corner of Josh’s mouth and kept humming happily, leaving coal smudge on him.

‘Finally… you can’t run away…’ The figure’s voice echoed within his mind once again, as it grinded the heel of its boot more into Josh’s ribcage. He once again felt like he had to kill himself before this creature had the chance to do it, but how and why?

The why would be cleared up another time, right now he had to focus on the how.

He couldn’t move, he could scarcely breathe… Josh closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, to manipulate this world so he could find an escape… But the figure spoke again. ‘Oh no Josh... You won’t escape this time… after all…’

Josh opened his eyes and they widened.

‘You can’t manipulate real life.’

He was in his dorm room, on the ground, with that figure looming above him. He still couldn’t move. He wanted to say something but his throat hurt. This had to be a nightmare still, that meant he could control it, change it, he could make this creature go away. The being laughed again and stomped on his ribcage and Josh suppressed a scream. He had to focus, if he could find a way to figure out that this was still a dream…

Another stomp and Josh gasped slightly, trying to free himself even if he was still unable to move. Josh’s eyes darted around the room, when he saw something… The door wasn’t there… Neither were the windows…

He was still sleeping.

Now he just had to find a quick way to end this all.

Another stomp.

He was almost in a trance like state when he spoke…

“’Oh no, no,’ said the little Fly, ‘kind Sir, that cannot be,  
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!’”

Josh could feel a pill in his mouth and he bit down quickly, he heard the sound of glass crunching and something was cutting the inside of his mouth and throat open, his mouth filling with a bitter, metallic and almond like taste.

He couldn’t breathe anymore and his body started to convulse, his heartbeat was racing and he felt incredibly dizzy, a pain spread through his chest and he knew he’d pass out any minute. He could feel his eyes rolling backwards, he could feel foam on his mouth and his body desperately trying to get more air.

The being stepped back with an annoyed growl, which was the last thing he heard before he woke up, clutching his chest and holding the crucifix. Josh got up from his bed and pinched himself, just to make sure he was awake and alive.

He wasn’t sure how late it was, he didn’t even bother to check his watch. He just went on his computer to distract himself, to get some mindless entertainment, he just wanted a break… He pinched the bridge of his nose, maybe he was trying to subconsciously remind himself that he was awake.

He watched a few videos, feeling cold and slightly nauseated. He wanted to go back to bed, but after this nightmare he couldn’t sleep again, he didn’t want to have another vision of this… thing. He kept staring at his screen, his brain going into autopilot mode, he wasn’t even registering the video he was currently watching.

His eyes were burning and he wanted to close them, but he was afraid he would just end up with another nightmare, another hallucination if he’d open them. He kept them open, only really closing them to blink, barely giving them any rest at all. He just wanted to talk to someone, anyone. Being alone made him feel uneasy because he was pretty sure he wasn’t… truly alone. There was still a looming presence, lurking…

Something told him that presence was angry and impatient, maybe it was the slowly growing heat that gave him this vibe.

He grabbed his phone and just wrote to Jeremy, maybe his brother could distract him. But what should he even write? Should he just casually go ‘Hey’ without mentioning the nightmares to him? He usually didn’t worry so much about this stuff, he could just write him, but… It was different now.

Josh just went with ‘Hey’ and waited for a response.

‘Shouldn’t you be in class?’ was Jeremy’s response. Josh wrote back ‘I’m sick and decided to stay in my dorm room until I get better.’

‘Makes sense I guess. So, how’re you doing?’

Josh looked on.

Should he be honest?

He started typing ‘Not okay. I’ve been having lots of very messed up nightmares.’ He deleted the message and started a new one ‘Could be better. A lot of nightmares.’ He deleted the message. ‘Meh. Nightmares are driving me up the wall.’

Delete.

‘I’ve been having a lot of bad dreams.’

Delete.

‘Not able to sleep lately.’

Delete.

‘Help me.’

Definitely delete.

He read the message Jeremy send him ‘Josh?’

‘I’m okay, just really tired.’

‘Alright.’

Josh rubbed his eyes a bit and yawned.

‘So how have you been?’ Josh wrote, trying to change the subject. He suddenly felt so watched. Like when he was on his phone and someone was nosily peeking over his shoulder. He had to remain calm though.

‘I’m fine.’ Jeremy replied and then he went offline all of the sudden. Josh sighed, his brother was probably busy or something. He’d write back. Josh looked back at his computer and played another YouTube video, not really knowing what it was about, he didn’t particularly care, he just wanted to keep his mind occupied with something that weren’t… The nightmares. He leaned back on his chair and kept on watching, tapping his finger against the desk and kept on watching, this… Feeling of being watched returned, this time worse.

He looked at his phone when he heard a notification noise.

Jeremy must’ve written back.

Josh opened the message and kind of just… stared on in shock.

‘why wont you just die?’

‘Wait, what do you mean?’ Josh wrote back after a moment of hesitation.

‘im trying and trying to kill you but you can always escape. im getting tired of this josh. just burn already. die. just die make my job easier for me im getting tired of this.’

His phone heated up drastically and he dropped it on the ground.

‘burn burn burn burn burn burn burn BURN BURN BURN BURN’

Josh picked up his phone and wrote with slightly shaky hands ‘Who are you and what did you do to my brother?’

‘just die.’

‘who are you why do you want me dead? wheres jeremy?’

‘burn’

‘what do you want from me?’

‘“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly’

Josh felt his temples throb again and he closed his eyes and when he snapped them open he immediately checked his phone.

‘Josh what are you talking about? Are you okay? I haven’t left and I definitely don’t want you dead.’ that was the only message from Jeremy. Josh rubbed his eyes and saw his own messages to this entity.

Must’ve been a hallucination, but… How? He had gotten sleep, he shouldn’t be hallucinating anymore.

‘Yeah, haha, sorry. I’m tired and sick.’ he wrote back ‘I think I’ll just lie down and try to get better.’

‘Josh, are you sure? If someone is stalking you, you can tell me. This Youtuber stuff can get a bit dangerous.’

‘No, it’s okay, I’m really just sick and tired and should get some rest.’

‘Well, if you say so… Good night bro.’

‘You know its noon, right?’

‘Good noon bro!’

Josh just shook his head ‘Right, I’ll sleep like a toddler.’

He put his phone to charge, closed the blinds and laid down, holding the crucifix. This crucifix had been protecting him from this monster as if it was afraid of it, he had to hold onto it tightly, if there was really something coming after him… Not that he believed that something was after him… But with everything going on, especially after seeing this being repeatedly… It was always there and with each dream he escaped, it became more and more physical, so much so that it could pin him down, as if it had a body. It even had a silhouette… But it seemed to be afraid of the crucifix.

Maybe this thing was demonic in nature…

He ran his index finger on the side of the crucifix, it made him feel slightly safe. If this thing had a form now, maybe now it’d be more human and have a vulnerable body and if this thing would visit him again tonight…

Josh grabbed a pair of scissors and took them with him to bed.

This thing was trying to kill him in his dream… Was he just foiling its plans by killing himself before it had a chance? Possibly. Whatever it was, it was getting tired of him foiling its plans and something, maybe a gut feeling, told him that tonight it’d be angry enough to appear in the physical world and didn’t just manifest as a nightmare.

No, that was silly…

But all these nightmares, hallucinations and this weird exchange he had couldn’t be a coincidence. He wished them to be a coincidence, he wished this wasn’t real, but he slowly believed that these things weren’t just in his head and that something was pursuing him.

He heard the scratching again underneath his bed and he clutched the crucifix tightly. He didn’t want to sleep, he didn’t even want to get up. He was afraid something might grab him and drag him away, or jump at him from underneath the bed and kill him. He hummed softly to himself, trying to calm down.

This thing could strike at any second, could attack him any second.

He had the crucifix.

He was safe.

God would protect him. 

 

His sight grew blurry and he tried to blink it away. He was trying to not nod off, trying to stay awake, aware… He didn’t want to fall asleep. Maybe it was okay to doze off, God would protect him… God wouldn’t let this monster get to him…

Josh put away the scissors and crucifix, not far from him on the bedside table, mouthed a prayer and finally fell asleep. He didn’t have a nightmare, instead he dreamt that he was inside an orb and that monster angrily punching against it, angry that it couldn’t get inside… There was something that it said to him…

“…I’m coming for you. Whether you like it or not.”

When he woke up it was dark already and he wondered just how late it was. Josh looked at his bedside table, knowing that the scissors were there, but he didn’t really need it now.  
Yet he kept it there.

Maybe he wasn’t as safe as he felt, maybe he wasn’t safe at all and that dream was supposed to lure him into a false sense of security. He just knew he wasn’t asleep anymore… At least he thought he wasn’t.

Josh pinched himself and felt a small jolt of pain.

He was awake.

He smelled smoke.

Josh didn’t want to check if this thing was here, it couldn’t possibly be here, he wasn’t sleeping, he wasn’t hallucinating. He was sure, no, he knew that this was real life that he was awake and aware. 

Then why did he smell smoke?

Why did he feel watched?

Josh closed his eyes, maybe this feeling would go away, but no… It was there, it was still there and this time more intensive, as if someone was in his room He opened his eyes and pinched himself again… He wasn’t asleep.

This was real.

Josh kept his eyes closed and felt weight on him, something was pinning him on his bed. He felt something brushing against his cheek and someone whispering into his ear “Finally…”

He felt this brushing against his cheek again and two hands around his neck. Josh wrapped his hands around the monster’s wrist in an attempt to fight him off and opened his eyes, meeting with the red glowing eyes of the monster. The worst part was, he recognized its silhouette, it looked humanoid and so up close… Familiar.

The broad shoulders made Josh think that this being was more masculine. He kept choking Josh and Josh tried fighting him off, struggled while a rush of adrenaline went through his body, as he tried to stay afloat, tried to stay alive. He needed to think, but with cut off air supply, it was difficult. He let go of the thing’s wrists and moved his hand to the bedside table, reaching for the scissors and the crucifix.

He stabbed a few times into the dark, not sure if he was hitting something since black dots were forming before his eyes, but he definitely stabbed into his shoulder and a second time slashed across his face, ignoring the blood that dripped onto his own face.

The monster recoiled and Josh got off his bed as quick as possible. He couldn’t escape the dorm room, he’d have to walk right past the monster and he was looking for him, trying to find him in the darkness…

Josh didn’t take his eyes off the figure huddled in front of the door, trying to stop the bleeding. Josh hit the door to the bathroom with his back. He frantically searched for the doorknob, making sure the monster hadn’t spotted him.

The door creaked and the monster’s red glowing eyes snapped over to him. He stood up, staggering a bit and Josh realized he somehow hit his leg as well and now he wondered what other injuries he caused him and just how weakened he was. He slipped into the bathroom and locked the door, then hid in the only place he could possibly hide: The bathtub. Here he was now lying in the bathtub, the only thing he heard were the monster’s snarls and knocking against the door. With each knock he seemed to be getting more agitated, but kept quiet… He wasn’t screaming, wasn’t shouting anything at him.

Since this wasn’t a nightmare, maybe this monster didn’t want to wake up anyone else from other dorms and possibly be found.

With each pounding knock, Josh instinctively twitched. There was a monster outside that wanted him dead for whatever reason and he was close, he was just outside the door and with each pounding knock, Josh was worried that the door may give in, break and the monster would find him. He heard a louder, slamming sound, as if the monster had slammed his whole body against the door. The knocking turned into scratching and knocking again. It seemed like, since this wasn’t the monster’s territory he didn’t have as much power as he did in the other nightmares.

Josh tried to keep his breathing slow, he couldn’t panic now. He had to remain levelheaded and calm, the worst he could do was act in any kind of panic. Panic could cloud his judgment of the situation and that could cost him his life.

He heard heavy breathing on the other side of the door.

Knocking.

Josh looked upwards, praying for this to stop.

Slamming sound.

Josh curled up in the bath tub.

He heard a shuffling sound, as if the monster was crawling away.

He had to check if this being was still there, maybe in the faint light coming from the bathroom window he could identify the monster… Maybe if he knew what he looked like, he felt safer and maybe he could answer to himself why something about his silhouette was so familiar. He made sure that he didn’t hear the shuffling sound again and climbed out of the bathtub. He thought about peeking through the keyhole but maybe this monster had a sharp object and would stab him in the eye. If he’d open the door just a bit he could just quickly close it.

Anxiously he unlocked the door, making sure to make as little noise as possible and opened the door. The moon shining through the window gave off a soft strip of light in the room and he could see the monster: He was kneeling on the ground, wounded and angry, trying to stop the bleeding on his face, at least from what he could recognize.  
The monster had his back turned to him, but in the line of the faint light he saw that he was indeed injured, not only on shoulder and face, but also on his leg and side. He kept staring at him, waiting for him to turn around so Josh could see his face. For now all he had seen was the silhouette and now in the light the body.

Finally he turned around and Josh almost dropped the scissors and crucifix in shock: The monster looked exactly like him, the only thing that was different were his glowing red eyes and the wide maniacal grin. The monster stared at him, before he stood up and walked towards the door, limping slightly. Josh closed and locked the bathroom door and he heard a loud bang, as if he had thrown himself against it again.

Josh went into the bathtub and spent the whole time listening to the knocking, scratching and slamming, hoping that the door wouldn’t break down and this monster wouldn’t find him. He didn’t want to sleep, he forced himself to stay up by opening the window and letting in the cold night air and by repeatedly pinching himself every time he was about to doze off. So here he was, lying in the shivering cold, repeatedly pinching himself, so much so that he could swear he had drawn blood from his arm, or maybe he was imagining things.

He wanted to wash off the blood on his face but he wanted to keep his noise volume at a minimum and the noise of splashing water could agitate the monster even more. He wasn’t sure why he thought that, maybe it was his paranoia speaking.

He kept telling himself to not panic, if he’d go into a state of panic, he’d act irrational… But he was afraid, with each loud banging noise, he grew more scared, the heavy breathing made his skin crawl. It finally stopped and it sounded like a body slumping against the door.

“You…”

Josh flinched when the monster finally spoke loud and clear, not as an echo or whisper, and had his own voice, a voice that sounded like him, but raspier, as if he had inhaled a lot of smoke.

“You’re really clever.” The monster spoke again. “You managed to escape me every time. Either by killing yourself, or holding on to the crucifix.”

Josh tried to block out the voice and twitched more when he started laughing.

“You’re the most interesting prey I had. Finally someone who puts up a fight and doesn’t piss themselves when they feel my presence…”

Laughter.

“I can’t even decide if I should kill you after all… I don’t want the fun to end… I’ll come to a conclusion… I’ll leave for now…”

Soft chuckling.

“You can come out now…” The voice had an almost loving tone now.

He heard shuffling sound and then nothing but deafening silence. Josh remained awake inside the bathtub, still curled up. He wouldn’t go out of the bathroom tonight, he didn’t trust him, he shouldn’t trust him.

These words and the raspy voice just wouldn’t leave him, that image of himself with demonic red eyes appeared before him, every time he closed his eyes. He noticed that he was shaking and he forced himself to calm down, he couldn’t let this monster know that he was slowly reaching his limit. He would hold on, until he found a solution. Showing fear or weakness while this monster may still be around meant this monster had somehow won, had managed to break him.

At least he was vulnerable. If he bled, he could be killed… If the monster was even mortal. He hoped he was mortal, it’d make things so much more easier…

‘Thou shalt not kill…’

But it was self defense. This monster wanted him dead, he had to kill him when push came to shove… He had to defend himself, he had to kill him, right?

He wanted to know this monster’s name. He wanted to know who he was and why he was after him… He spoke about him being his prey.

Prey.

He licked his thumb to rub off some of the blood on his face. Every movement he made was odd, he just couldn’t concentrate very well. It was cold, he was scared. He just wanted his phone and talk to his brother, he just needed someone right now. He kept trying to clean the blood, but he just couldn’t. He felt himself slipping, as his body tried to shut down and just get sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake, lest he wanted the monster to sneak up on him.

This was real.

He realized that this was all real.

These nightmares were attempted murders.

He just didn’t understand why.

Josh curled up as he tried to get comfortable in the bathtub. The silence was worrying and he almost wanted the knocking back, at least that meant the monster was still there and not lurking and waiting for him to get out of the room and then jump him.

He needed some noise, an indication if the monster was still there.

Josh finally got out and was about to unlock the door, when heard steps. Was he dreaming again? He pinched himself, his arm had a slight bruise by now and realized that he was awake.

The steps were real.

He was still there, lurking…

He stepped backwards and hid inside the bathtub again and curled up, not saying a word. All he could hear were the steps outside, his own breathing and the beating of his heart, as it was hammering against his chest. There was no knocking though, maybe he was just thinking that the monster was still outside. The footsteps suddenly stopped and he heard the quick sound of a flash fire.

Then nothing.

Josh kept hidden inside the bathtub and stayed awake until the next morning.

As the sun shone into the room, he forced himself to get up and open the door, knowing that the monster was gone. His neck felt a bit stiff from lying in an awkward position all night and all he saw were trails of dried blood and a dark singe mark on the ground. He felt slightly dizzy and he had to sit down first.

He had to clean the blood and singe mark, otherwise people would ask questions, questions that Josh couldn’t answer. First he cleaned his face then he grabbed an already dirty towel, moistened it, grabbed soap and started cleaning.

His hands were always doing the same motion.

Left.

Right.  
He just wanted to be done as soon as possible.

He’d have to open a window too probably, it smelled like blood and ashes in here.

Everything to avoid questions.

He was kneeling on the ground, looking at the pinkish water and looked at his own reflection and he remembered the monster again, his raspy voice, his laughing. He walked to the bathroom to clean out the towel and continued cleaning the stains. He was finally done and just sat on the floor, not even bothering to clean his hands or the towel, he needed a break after last night but he didn’t want to sleep, he didn’t even want to close his eyes, in fear this monster could show up again. His eyes started burning and he felt like he had to close them. Josh closed them and heard the rattling of a chain and he immediately opened them. He stood up and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, finding nothing at all. He slumped onto his computer chair and once again tried to watch some videos to distract himself, stay awake and to fill the room with noise.

It felt like the only thing he could do to soften up the intense atmosphere that had been left by the unnamed monster.

He occasionally rubbed his eyes. Never both at the same time, only one after the other, out of fear he’d see this monster again, that raspy voice, or that laughter. He coughed a bit, cleared his throat and kept watching. He occasionally looked around since he felt watched. Finally he just opened Word to type down some video ideas.

Josh stared at the empty word page and tried to come up with something, but his head hurt so much and the room was so cold… He had to at least close the windows, to get to focus a bit, he couldn’t do that so well in a room as cold as the arctic. On his way to the bathroom, he grabbed the towel to clean it out quickly and throw it away.

No way was he going to use it, after cleaning up blood with it.

He splashed more water onto his face before cleaning the towel, dumped it in the trash and then closed the window. He just walked over to the computer and noticed in shock how quickly the room had heated up and had started to smell like smoke.

“No…” Josh shook his head.

He couldn’t possibly be back, it was day, he wouldn’t just pop up in broad daylight, right? He looked around but saw nothing and heard nothing. Only the feeling of heat and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. He tried to ignore it, if the monster was watching him, he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being afraid and breaking down, now that he knew that the monster could be injured and wasn’t as powerful in his world, Josh wasn’t afraid, he could fight him.

At least he kept telling himself that in an attempt to remain calm.

He sat back down and noticed that there was a new Windows Words window open. He clicked it, wanting to know just why it was there and he stared at the screen unsure what he should say.

Someone wrote on a word document ‘Hello Josh’

Josh didn’t want to respond, he tried closing the window but every click made an error sound.

A new phrase was typed out ‘Don’t you ignore me. I know you still remember me.’

Was he supposed to write something back?

He’d try it out.

'You’re that thing from last night.’

'I’ll just ignore that rude remark, I’m not a thing. But yes, I’m the one from last night and that night before and so on.’

Josh recalled his raspy voice and shuddered a little.

'What do you want from me?’ Josh typed.

'Let’s say I have no specific goal in mind. Some men just want to watch the world burn.’

Josh tried to close the window again and failed.  
'That’s really rude of you, trying to get rid of me like that. I thought you were raised better. I just want to talk to you. That one sided conversation we had wasn’t satisfying if you ask me. You weren’t responding to me at all.’

Josh tried to stand up, but something was holding him down.

‘Don’t you walk away from me. I’m not done yet. You probably have a lot of questions, don’t you?’

Josh stared at the computer screen. He did have a lot of questions, but he had no idea if he could trust this being. He’d probably trick him and answer none of the questions, or maybe lie to him and lead him into a trap.

‘How do I know I can trust you?’

‘You’re smart Josh. Maybe we’ll talk some other time. I swear you can sleep for now, because I’ll leave you alone for a while, but I’ll contact you again I promise. I don’t want to wear you out too much, or you’ll lose your appeal…’

The document deleted itself and the computer turned off.

Josh tried to comprehend what just happened.

At least the monster kept his promise. The nightmares had seized ever since that little chat and Josh had felt a bit more safe in his room, though sometimes when he woke up in the middle of the night because he felt someone staring at him, he swore he saw that monster looming above him, standing there in the darkness and grinning at him, his red glowing eyes slightly illuminating the room. And even if the nightmares stopped, at night he never felt alone in his room and not in a good way either. The monster was waiting, lurking in the dark, until he could strike again.

Sometimes, but rarely, he heard pacing footsteps in his room, or in front of his door, but the monster had promised him he could rest easy. So maybe he was just checking and watching out until the time was right to terrorize him properly again. Josh dreaded that day, that would be the day when the torment started all over again. At least he could catch up to schoolwork and everything else he missed and his body had gotten used to a normal sleeping schedule again.

But sometimes when he sat in class, he could feel the heat in the room rise, he could feel a tingling feeling crawling in the back of his neck.  
The monster was always watching him, like a hunter watching the prey, like a spider observing a helpless fly caught in its net, he even expected to hear the steps, the rattling chains, that raspy voice.

That monster was leaving him hanging on, the expectation for the worst to happen was building with each passing day. Josh just wanted the monster to strike, he just wanted this to stop. He could swear that he heard giggling, every time it got too quiet in any room.

Sometimes just a raspy chuckle.

The monster seemed to be angry that he had to hold back for now, he knew he wanted to strike, but maybe he was keeping his promise so Josh knew he could trust him.  
Something was different this evening.

The computer had turned itself on and opened a word document and Josh felt the heat and smelled the smoke lingering in the air.  
The monster was back.

Josh opened up Word, to see if the monster wanted to contact him.

‘Good evening Josh. See, I kept my promise.’

Josh couldn’t argue with that. ‘You did. But that doesn’t mean anything. I still don’t trust you.’

‘That’s sad. I’ve found quite a liking to you. You’re interesting to observe, trying to live your life, ignoring me and you look quite cute when you’re sleeping… But you still have questions about my intentions, don’t you?’

He had questions, a lot of them, especially about the chains he could hear as well. But which question should he ask first?

‘Yes. And I want answers. You’ve kept me hanging long enough, now it’s time to answer my questions.’

Josh heard that raspy chuckle again.

‘Impatient are we? I like how hotheaded you are… I’d like to answer your questions in person.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly’

His breath hitched slightly.

What could that mean…? This strange dream realm that he could bend at his own will? He shouldn’t go to his terrain, he wasn’t safe there. The monster could control everything there, he could just kill him if he wanted.

But he wanted answers too.

‘Well Josh?’

Josh tapped his index finger on his desk and looked on. Should he pick up the offer and risk his life? Or live in fear, never knowing why this monster was pursuing him, who he was and what this monster’s plan was?

‘Okay.’ Josh typed.

‘Great! I’ll prepare something to eat for us. In order to enter my world you just need to sleep, I’ll make sure you’ll end up there. And please leave your crucifix and other weaponry at home. I won’t play any dirty tricks, so I’m expecting the same from you.’

‘Fine.’

'Go͡od͞…͏ I ̵ca͢n't wait.͟.̧. ❤’

The last message unsettled him, was this monster infatuated with him, or was he just messing with him?  
He heard a raspy chuckling again and felt a warm caress over his hands

‘Are you excited❤?’

Josh wrapped his arms around himself, to make this strange touching sensation go away.

‘I know you are… '͝Se̷e͠ ̢yo̧u҉ ̢to̡n҉i̢gh̸t litt͡l̴e͞ ̴fl̡y͢.’

The computer turned off and he was alone again.

It was cold again in his room and Josh was sure that the monster had gone away, maybe to give him time to prepare for tonight. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t slightly nervous, especially since he wasn’t allowed to bring anything to defend himself, but yet he didn’t want to enter the monster’s world absolutely vulnerable…  
He’d sneak in something, just a little something, so he wouldn’t be at risk.

His gaze fell to the necklace. He’d definitely sneak this in…

He didn’t have a weapon that was small enough, he could only think about sneaking in a razorblade… He wondered if the monster was currently watching him and knew what he was planning and he wondered how the monster reacted once he realized Josh had gone against his wishes. He personally wouldn’t usually do that, just going against what has been asked of him, but he felt justified, after all this monster had tried to kill him on multiple occasions.

He couldn’t be too sure.

If he had to go into the lair of this monster, he’d come prepared.

The monster had implied that he could take objects into the world he’d bring him to, so Josh just had to find a way to smuggle it in… He went to take a quick shower and changed into pajamas, he then grabbed some toilet paper and two razorblades, then wrapped them in the paper. He did the same with the necklace and taped them both to his underarm.  
He paused.

Josh shook his head, removed them and then put duct tape and the little packages into the drawer of his bedside table, since there was a chance it didn’t come with him into the monster’s world and he may get hurt while he slept. He’d just think about these three items and maybe his subconsciousness would take them into the dream world…  
If that dream world really was moldable by his subconsciousness…

He lied down and read until it was time to sleep and set the alarm. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize the hidden items and the drawers. He felt tense, he was afraid, mostly because he couldn’t predict what this monster had in store for him.

He fell asleep soon enough.

Josh opened his eyes and he knew he wasn’t awake. He was in a strange warped version of his room, the windows were missing, there were no furniture except for the bedside table and there was a deafening silence. He opened the drawer and sighed in relief; the items were still there. He grabbed them and taped them to his underarm. It became pitch black darkness all of a sudden and Josh got out of bed, arms wrapped around himself.

He was surrounded by candlelight all of a sudden and in the soft flickering of the flames he saw something on his bed; someone had put folded clothes on his bed; A white vest, deep red suit jacket and deep red dress pants, next to it a black curled up leather belt, socks and leather dress shoes. He put it on, without much questioning. This must have been the right choice, since a door appeared where the room door of his dorm room used to be.

He felt hesitant.

Was he really ready to face the monster?

The door handle was now a brass doorknob. Josh looked around uneasy, as every candle was put out with one swift gust of wind that howled throughout the room. He wondered where that came from. He finally opened the door and felt a strong wind blowing against him.

He looked into the darkness and saw concrete stairs, but he couldn’t make out where they lead… Upwards? Downwards?

He stepped forward, into the lion’s den, the spider’s parlor…

There weren’t any sounds, except his own footsteps and heavy breathing, his gaze fell on his surroundings, left and right from him was an abyss, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he recognized stalagmites, with a strange hand shaped formation on the tip… He squinted his eyes a bit and realized the ‘stalagmites’ looked fleshy and were slightly pulsating and he started hearing a slight pumping. As he walked on, the ‘stalagmites’ became thicker, the sound of pulsating blood louder and louder and he wanted to walk away, especially since the structures started to contort, with a disgusting cracking sound and all the palms were pointing towards him. His pace got faster and faster and more noises were heard…

Screams, agonized screeches and cries followed by the flickering of fire.

He started to notice the burn marks on the ‘arms’. Slowly but surely they started to reach out to him and Josh walked on, the staircase seeming never ending and he could only continue going deeper and deeper and suddenly one of the hands grabbed his wrist and he heard a whisper in the back of his head, a hoarse and pained voice spoke to him ‘Don’t go to him! turn around now, he is going to hurt you.’

Josh tried to free himself, but another hand grabbed him by the ankle.

‘Turn around or you’ll burn…’

He tried to shake off the hands.

‘He’ll do the same thing to you.’

Josh finally managed to free himself, running down the stairs, almost tripping and falling a couple of times, he was afraid of what might happen if he’d fall into the abyss on both sides of him. The whispers became more intense and he just wondered if these whispers were his own mind, his own subconsciousness, telling him to get out and just wake up as soon as possible or if these were past victims, the souls of the people the monster had claimed before him.

At the end of the stair was a door, a simple iron door with an iron door handle. He grabbed the door handle and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘Please don’t do this… Please don’t do this…’

The hands were trying to pull him away from the door.

‘Please don’t do this Josh, please don’t do this…’

He could hear the sound of tearing flesh behind him and the grinding sound of bones. He pressed down the handle and found himself mumbling softly “Sorry…” Not sure to whom he was apologizing to, then he opened the door that creaked slightly and stepped into the room.

He took a deep breath and went deeper into the room.

It seemed to breathe as well, heavy, unsettling breaths that became more intense with each step he took.

He saw a light in the middle of the room and as he went closer, he saw what the light source was: a brass candelabrum with ignited red candles on each of the three branches that stood on a table that was covered with a white table cloth. The table was fully set with two plates, two wine glasses, forks, knives, a wine bottle and a cloche with red and rusty stains on it, with a strange smell emanating from it, a smell that made him sick and maybe he just imagined it, but he heard a crawling sound from somewhere in the room.  
Suddenly he heard steps and he felt a hand caressing his shoulders.

“Hello Josh.”

There it was; that raspy voice of the monster.

The monster stood before him now, a wide grin stretched on his face, red glowing eyes meeting his, wearing the same thing as Josh, the only difference were the black boots and the black coat.

“Do you like the clothes I picked out for you?” The monster asked, maybe sounding a bit too threatening for Josh’s liking. Josh just nodded slowly, trying not to look at this manic version of himself, but the monster just put a hand under his chin and forced him to look at him.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you.” The monster’s grin grew wider as he got a hold of Josh’s hand and softly led him to the table, sitting him down on one of the fancy looking oak chairs, all the while Josh tried to shake off the chill running down his back.

And now he sat here, facing him.

“Here we are Josh.” The monster spoke, suddenly holding a red apple in his hand. “Want a bite?”

Josh just shook his head softly, his hands on his laps. He didn’t want to move, he just kept averting his eyes from the monster, this warped, insane reflection of himself was making him really uncomfortable especially since he didn’t know what kind of plan this monster had.

He shuddered a bit when he heard a loud crunching sound and then chewing.

“Suit yourself.”

He heard the cloche being removed and a putrid smell of decay filled the room and he heard the crawling of maggots and the humming of flies.

“Don’t you want to see what I made for us?”

He softly looked upwards and his eyes widened with terror a horrified expression on his face; underneath the cloche had been a human torso, covered in what seemed to be stab wounds and fourth degree burns. It was decaying, rib bones already poking out from underneath the skin and it was partially ravaged by maggots that fell from the decaying body part and onto the table cloth. But what shocked him the most was how calmly the monster stood up, took the two plates and just cut off pieces from the rotten corpse.

The monster put Josh’s plate down in front of him and then returned to his own seat and started eating.

Josh’s breath hitched as he kept watching, he just couldn’t take his eyes away from this scene. The monster giggled a bit, obviously enjoying the position he put Josh in. Josh kept shifting his gaze between the monster and the plate, seeing the maggots crawling onto his lap, the smell of rotten flesh made him gag slightly, but he held it back.

“Aren’t you hungry, Josh?”

Josh shook his head in response.

“Well then. I think you have questions, right?”

“Y-Yes…” Josh tried to ignore the foul stench, tried to ignore the disgusting chewing noises. “Yes, that’s why I’m here; to ask you a few questions.”

“Good… Then ask me.” He hadn’t stopped grinning. Josh just couldn’t take his eyes off him anymore and he asked his first question “Who… Who are you?”

“Good question.” The monster said, picking the meat between his teeth with his tongue. “I have a lot of names, depending on who I’m after… you can call me The Fiery Joker.”

Josh tensed up a little at that name.

“Oh, does that name hit a nerve for you? Well too bad. I found quite a liking to it…” The Fiery Joker giggled.

“What do you want from me?” His voice was slightly shaky, he just didn’t know how to react all of this, he was afraid.

“What do I want from you?”

There was a pause and The Fiery Joker grinned.

“Well… At first I wanted to kill you, first for the joy of it and then, so I could take you over and do what I want with your body. Who knows…? Maybe kill other people until I get bored? Maybe just waste this body away until I get bored and chose another host? I’m not the most organized person. I usually don’t have a long term goal with victims… And then I met you.”

The Fiery Joker stood up and walked to him and cupped Josh’s face. Josh wanted to move away from him, but he couldn’t, he didn’t know what he’d do to him if he wouldn’t play along.

“You Josh… You’re unlike any victim I’ve ever met. You actually tried to fight me off. You took control when I least expected it… This kind of hotheadedness was the kind of excitement I needed.” He moved closer to him, so close Josh could feel his breath on him. “I have to admit, at first I was angry, so angry I could create a physical form to try and kill you in your world… but you actually had the balls to defend yourself…”

Josh felt The Fiery Joker caress his face softly, eerily loving and tender.

“That moment when you stabbed me with the scissors, I just knew you were something else. I stopped hating you and… felt obsessed… Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t love you. I don’t even like you that way… I just like the idea of possessing you.” The Fiery Joker tilted his head “I fell in love with the idea of breaking and owning someone as strong willed and fierce as you.”

Josh felt a hand around his neck.

“Watching as I S̛l̨ơw͘ly͟ ḑra̧i̛n͡ al̛l̷ w̴iļl͟ power̴ f̡ro͡m̕ ͞y̸ou͘,͘ y͢ǫu ͡ben̵eath m̵e like ̵on̴e ̛of t҉h̡e̢se m͏aggot̛s,̨ ̸as I͢ ͟br͞e̕ak͡ you b̕it ̢by̶ ͡bit,̡ ̛t͘ea̵r͜ ҉you ̷do͞w҉n̡ co̴mpletely...“̢

He gulped a bit, fearing that The Fiery Joker would choke him, but he stepped away from him and kept grinning.

“̢F̕i͠r͡st͞ ͡I w̨an͠t҉e҉d͏ t͝o ki͏ll͢ ̢yo҉u.͝..҉ ͡bu҉t͠ ̡n̛ow ͘I want̴ ̢to own yo̢u̡.” his voice was mocking and low.

Josh pushed him away on instinct, which caused The Fiery Joker to laugh. He sat back down and Josh just repositioned himself on the chair, meeting The Fiery Joker’s gaze.

Silence.

The Fiery Joker opened the wine bottle and the smell of old blood joined the smell of decay that Josh had gotten a little bit used to and he wanted to wretch again, it was disgusting. The Fiery Joker filled his and Josh’s glass.

“So, Josh… I thought I’d spare you. I’d leave you alive… Under one condition.” He took a sip from the glass and from underneath the table pulled out a suitcase… “Hold on, I’ll show this to you after we ate.”

Josh nodded and felt himself tense up more and more, the maggots spreading on the table. It was very quiet and The Fiery Joker kept looking at him, sometimes even smiling. Josh looked at his own plate and tried to avoid The Fiery Joker’s gaze.

“Aren’t you going to touch your food?” he asked, sounding playfully hurt. “I made this just for us… What a shame…”

Josh secretly got out the razorblades and necklace from their hiding place. The razorblades were still wrapped in paper as he held them in his hands. He had to wait, so he watched The Fiery Joker indulge in his sick feast, shuddering at the sound of tearing flesh and skin and the sound of The Fiery Joker drinking the blood wine.

He felt like he was sinking more and more into his seat and he just wanted to leave. Finally, The Fiery Joker was done.

“So… Now that you’re done I’m going ask: What do you mean with own me?” Josh finally asked and The Fiery Joker grinned, grabbing the suitcase. “Oh, you’ll love it…”

He opened it and took out a gold plated chain with collar, making sure that Josh could see every detail of it; It had little square spikes on the inside, the collar of the chain seemed to be decorated with rubies. Josh was allowed to touch the chain: It was heavy and felt incredibly warm, so much so he could barely hold on to it and he had to put it down. The Fiery Joker took it back, running his fingertips over the spikes, not even caring that he pricked himself once or twice.

“I made this just for you.” The Fiery Joker rattled the chain and looked at him with a soft and inviting smile. “What do you say Josh? Do you like it?”

“No.” Josh answered bluntly “I refuse.”

The Fiery Joker was quiet for a bit, then he started laughing, stalking close to him.

“Funny… I never said I’d give you a choice… Either way, you’re going to be mine.”

Without much hesitation Josh got off the chair and tried to run to the door, but The Fiery Joker appeared before him in a flash of flames, he grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground, pinning him down.

“Y҉ou̷'r̡e͝ n̴o͝t҉ ҉goi͝ņg͏ a̵ny̡wher͏e̢.“̨

Josh tried to squirm out of his grip and decided to use one of the hidden razorblades, he stabbed it into The Fiery Joker’s wrist and he howled out with pain and recoiled, giving Josh time to get up and try to find another exit, since The Fiery Joker was in front of the door, trying to pull out the blade from his wrist. He realized that he was lost, there was no escape, since the only escape was blocked out.

He was grabbed again, The Fiery Joker threw everything off the table and pinned Josh onto it.

"I ̡TRIE͘D̸ ̛T͢O D̴O ͞I͜T ̡T̷H͘E EASY̢ W̴A̧Y, BUT I̶ G͞UESS WE’LL HA͝VE TO̴ ̵ḐO ͞IT Y͞O̡UR W͢ĄY!”

Josh could hear the soft hissing of snakes and upon looking around, he saw snakes curling around his limbs and turning to barb wire that fixed him on the table and cut into his skin. The Fiery Joker stood looming above him.

“This could’ve been easy. But you just had to refuse.” The Fiery Joker shook his head. “But that’s what I love about you… You’re a fighter…. I’m kinda sad that you refused to eat. But I came prepared.” He lovingly patted his cheek and put mouth clamps into Josh’s mouth, forcing it open. He closed his eyes, he didn’t want to see what came next.

He heard the sound of tearing flesh and something fell into his mouth and from the wriggling he could sense that it was a maggot. Then a clump of disgusting rotten meat was forced into his mouth, the clamps were removed and The Fiery Joker forced him to chew the decaying, maggot ridden carcass that had a disgusting leathery texture on his tongue.

He was forced to swallow.

He could taste blood in his mouth, this disgusting metallic taste and he shuddered as he was yet again forced to swallow.

“S-Stop…” Josh begged as he took a deep breath. “L-Let me g-go…”

He felt a blood soaked hand caressing his face and Josh’s eyes snapped open. The Fiery Joker smiled softly at him. “I’m not going to let you go, Josh…”

Josh closed his eyes and clutched the crucifix necklace he was holding a bit tighter and felt something, a protective aura, surrounding him. His throat felt dry and Josh just said “Help me…” It was a weak call for help, but apparently effective. The Fiery Joker stepped back, the barb wire turned into snakes again and vanished. He crawled down from the table and forced himself to stand up and since the candles were now out, the room was darker than before, so he had barely any sense of navigation. He felt something cold underneath his hand, maybe the door?

He kept touching the cold surface, in hopes that he’d find the exit…

But then a bright flash of light illuminated the whole room and he could finally see how it looked like… The floor was made of marble, but the walls and ceiling looked like they were made of glass and through the glass he saw faces… Faces contorted in eternal agony, shifting and twisting.  
“It’s okay, Josh… I’m not gonna add you to my collection here…” The Fiery Joker spoke, coming closer with the chain. “No, no… You’ll be my personal plaything… Whether you like it or not.”

The door was gone, Josh just realized that. He had to take the quick exit, the emergency one. With the other razorblade he started frantically slash at his wrist, panicking slightly when he heard The Fiery Joker come closer and closer.  
He had to go quicker…

Josh slashed himself across the throat and fell to the ground, gasping and twitching, the last thing he heard was The Fiery Joker laughing and speaking “’Sweet creature!’ said the Spider, ‘you’re witty and you’re wise, how handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes! I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf, if you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.’”

 

He woke up feeling sick to his stomach, he stood up, feeling sweaty and disgusting, he could still feel the maggots crawling in his mouth, he could still taste the putrid flesh of a dead human in his mouth, the disgusting metallic taste of blood. He staggered over to the bathroom and threw up, shaking. He took deep gasping breaths, he tried to keep himself together, but he couldn’t.

But was he truly awake?

He pinched himself, only to realize that he felt pain after killing himself in The Fiery Joker’s realm. Was he asleep still and just outside of a nightmare realm? Maybe that’s why he still could taste these things in his mouth.

He killed himself in that nightmare realm. Did that mean that he was condemned to be part of The Fiery Joker’s collection?  
He heard his alarm clock beeping and pulled his knees to himself.

He started shaking a bit, the edge of a smile on his face and he started to laugh out loud a wide manic grin plastered on his face as he kept shaking with laughter, as if trying to shake off the experience, trying to just laugh it all away. Maybe laughter would make the fear go away.  
The alarm clock kept on beeping in the background, but he was drowning it out, ignoring all of it, he didn’t care.

“’I thank you, gentle sir,’ she said, ‘for what you’re pleased to say,  
and bidding you good morning now, I’ll call another day.’”

He sat like that for a while, repeating this line over and over again, like a mantra until he finally pulled himself together and stood up, still feeling slightly sick. He flushed the bile and went to his bed, pondering if he should lie down. He had to turn on the lights right now, had to turn off the alarm clock and sitting in a bright room was comforting. Josh opened the drawer and looked at items that were hidden there and saw that the razors were covered in blood.

He cleaned them and after some consideration put them in the garbage bin. Then he grabbed the crucifix and sat on the bed, looking around a bit paranoid. Was The Fiery Joker still here? Was he watching him?

He heard the chain, or was he imagining things?

He kept staring forwards for quite some time, not sure what to do, or if he should do anything. He looked at his window, walked to it and closed the blinds. He suddenly had an idea; Josh started scribbling frantically on a piece of paper and drew a crucifix, then taped it to the wall. The Fiery Joker couldn’t get to him that way, right? If he surrounded himself with crucifixes, he wouldn’t touch him, he couldn’t touch him…

He drew another one and taped it on the wall right above his bed, just to make sure.

Josh didn’t want to lie down, so he sat on his bed, looking around in case he was hiding in his room, listening to his surrounding in case he heard the laughter and the rattling chain and he opened the windows so it’d be cold in his room and he’d immediately recognize a shift in temperature. He would make sure The Fiery Joker couldn’t sneak up on him.

He grinned a bit, being sure that this monster couldn’t catch him off guard now, he was fully aware, fully awake… He shook his head to stay awake and stood up to pace around in his room and stood dead in his track when he heard additional footsteps.

No, those were his own footsteps, since the sound stopped when he stopped.

He kept pacing around in his room, preparing for a long day in class.

Even in class he felt watched, he always felt like he saw The Fiery Joker in his peripheral vision, saw these horrifying red eyes looking at him, holding the chain and collar, but he wasn’t saying a thing, so he was sure to some degree that it was just a figment of his paranoid imagination.

He kept doodling crucifixes in his notebook and on his hands, so that the hallucinations would go away and he would stay safe, because he knew God would protect him from this monster, even if he felt anxious, even if he kept hearing his whispers, these shallow words of kindness that tried to convince him to give in. But the more he drew, the more silent the monster became, until he heard nothing but an annoyed groan and then nothing.

Classes were over, but he was hesitant to return to his dorm room, after all maybe he was waiting for him there.  
“No…” he mumbled to himself. He wouldn’t be there, why should he be there, and what reason did he have to be there? He would be surrounded by the symbol of something he hated, besides how would he get in without being noticed?

Josh let out a shaky sigh and arrived at his door, his hand wrapped around the door knob that was cold, as to expect. So nobody had gone inside, the room was empty. Yet he hesitated, he was afraid, just a little bit afraid that he would be there, waiting for him.

He pressed his ear against the door to hear if someone was there, maybe he’d hear breathing or the chains, maybe even just steps pacing as the demon waited and lurked.  
Dead silence.

He opened the door and locked it behind him, quick so nothing could slip in and attack him. He tried to focus on his homework, but he had a gut wrenching feeling. It felt like The Fiery Joker was here. He could hear steps outside his door, he could hear soft knocking and scratching and even though he knew he was probably just imagining things, but it felt so real. He had the windows open again so the cold would fill the room and he’d be immediately alerted when the heat picked up, he even turned off the heater, just so he wouldn’t get confused.

He kept working, ignoring the steps he heard outside of his room and after he was done he started scribbling again, until his hand cramped and he had to take a break. He softly massaged his wrist and looked at the little pile of crucifixes he had drawn and proceeded to stick them on his wall, occasionally looking around watching out for steps, rattling and sudden heat, or the smell of smoke.

He knew he wouldn’t sleep tonight, otherwise The Fiery Joker could catch him in his nightmares. He sat on his bed with all the lights on and put headphones on, plugged them into his iPod and started to listen to music, loud music, yet he didn’t feel safe, he felt like the shadow he was casting on the wall behind him grew in size, grinned at him and glared at him with red eyes. Josh shook his head and turned around.

His shadow was normal.

Of course.

But what if it distorted when he looked away?

He grabbed his phone and used the inverted camera setting, to keep his shadow in check, yes he may be paranoid, but he didn’t care, he knew this monster was real and could really sneak up on him any moment he wasn’t looking out.

He looked at his phone to check behind him, he looked in front of him to make sure he wouldn’t just appear before him and his head started to hurt slowly but surely, his heart started racing in a sudden panic and he took a deep breath, holding it for a while, before breathing out. 

He needed to calm himself, being in a panicked state wouldn’t help him; it may make things even worse. He was holding his iPod tightly and rubbed his eyes again, as if that would make the ever growing exhaustion go away. 

The song he was listening to got quieter and Josh thought it was because he somehow lowered the volume by accident, so he pressed the side of his iPod and turned up the volume, but it didn’t change at all. The song started to randomly skip a beat and suddenly just held on a note, it was becoming painful, so he took out his headphones. He looked at the song and was surprised when he saw that there was no name, album cover and the time bar said zero on both sides.  
Through the headphones he could hear the note that slowly faded to static.

A part of him was curious, wanted to know what that was and why it was happening, wanted to put the headphones in and just heard what he was talking about… But he didn’t, he wouldn’t, but the static through his headphones grew louder and louder until it sounded like a radio was in his room. He turned his iPod off.

He took a few deep breaths and felt so tired…

Josh slowly stood up and went to grab more print paper and started drawing more and more, until it became almost robotic, a comforting movement, there was something normalizing about this routine, always the same movement and pattern and he remained like that for the rest of the night. Morning came and Josh looked at the pile of crucifixes he drew and started taping them on his walls and sighed a bit shaky.

Was this going to go on forever? Would he just live in fear of this demon until he broke down and gave up? Until his spirit was crushed?

He had no answer for that. All he knew was that he couldn’t let The Fiery Joker win and that he had to go to classes again, even if he hadn’t slept all night. He checked his phone and sighed. He didn’t want to go, he was tired, but he had to… He had to keep on going as if everything was normal or else people would ask him questions he didn’t know how to respond to.

 

The day went on as usual; the only difference was his struggle against the exhaustion, some people were concerned, but he just shook it off, explained that he was fine. At night he’d sit at his desk and draw crucifixes, trying to ignore these background noises, trying to ignore static coming from his speakers and the laughter he heard outside of his dorm room…

He just imagined it, he knew The Fiery Joker wasn’t outside or else someone would notice but he just couldn’t ignore the goose bumps or the shiver running down his spine.  
This went on for a few days. It had become a sort of ritual: After class, Josh would lock himself in and start drawing crucifixes, so much so by now the entire wall was covered in drawings, the newest ones looking rather sloppy due to lack of sleep. He hadn’t slept in a while either, each night after he got tired of drawing he’d sit on his bed, looking at the camera to make sure The Fiery Joker wouldn’t sneak up behind him with that chain.

Every night he heard him in front of his door and he could feel the heat rise whenever he closed his eyes. His head hurt and the visions of him got more and more intense, sometimes when he looked into a mirror he saw himself grin, his eyes turning into an intense red.

That’s what The Fiery Joker wanted, wasn’t it?

This monster was waiting until he cracked, but he wouldn’t. He’d outlast him, he’d keep on going and going for all eternity if he had to… But was he strong enough? Josh didn’t know, he just knew that he was tired.

How many days had passed was a question he kept asking himself, after each coffee he had and each drawing he made and threw onto the ground by now, or taped in the bathroom, a question he asked himself each time he was about pass out, or threw up or saw The Fiery Joker standing in the corner of any room he was in and mocking him.  
Everything was passing by him like a haze.

 

Probably a week he had gone sleepless. He sat on his bed again. The walls were covered in drawings and he was ice cold due to his open windows letting in the ice cold air… But he wouldn’t break down, he was stronger than this demon…

‘Are you though…?’ A voice in his head spoke.

Josh shook his head, seeing everything in a blur. It suddenly felt like someone was sitting behind him, embracing him… He felt so warm… It felt like something was massaging his shoulders and against his will, he just relaxed.

‘How long can you keep up this fight, Josh?’ the voice asked and he knew whose voice it was, but he didn’t want to say it, he didn’t want to speak his name at all, while he was near, maybe he’d feel ignored and would go away. This warmth wasn’t scaring him away, if anything it was drawing him close like a fire attracted a moth…

‘It’s okay you can give up now… I can sense how tired you are…’

The voice gave him goose bumps. He spoke with a sickening sweet tone, trying to convince him to give into his exhaustion, but Josh knew better, he knew he had to resist him and this feeling of comforting warmth, this feeling as if he was held in an embrace.

'You’re tired, aren’t you? You’ve reached your limit…’ The Fiery Joker whispered softly.

No, he had to keep going and push beyond that.

'You haven’t slept for so long… Yet you keep on fighting… But why keep on fighting Josh? You’re just hurting yourself.’

It felt like someone was softly rocking him back and forth.

‘Look at you… you’re so tired…’

“I… I can’t…”

He felt something akin to a finger on his lips and The Fiery Joker shushed him.

‘No… No more talking… Just sleep…’

“Let go of me…” Josh mumbled sleepily. The low chuckles echoed within his mind. ‘No… Once you’re mine, it’s going to be all over… The hunt, the nightmares… You’ll just sleep… You should feel honored that I want to do this. You’re the only one…’

Josh was too tired to answer, he had really worn himself out, he just wanted to lie down and sleep, but he knew if he did he’d allow The Fiery Joker to enter his mind and he couldn’t escape forever, one day he might not react fast enough, or The Fiery Joker could intervene.

‘Do you think a few crucifixes can hold me back? You can’t fight anymore. Give up.’

He took a deep breath and held the crucifix necklace tightly, so tightly that the corners dug into his palms. He looked at the drawings on the walls and started to recite a prayer, his voice growing louder and louder in an attempt to drown out the voice that haunted him. Josh got off his bed and turned around slowly.

And there he stood.

Or did he?

Josh wasn’t sure if The Fiery Joker was there or if he was just hallucinating, he just knew that he needed to stay away from him. He didn’t speak, he just smiled at him and then walked towards him, the chain in hand… Or was he walking? Every time Josh blinked, he seemed to be coming closer. Josh stepped backwards and tripped over something and he fell.

‘I told you, you can’t run away from me, little fly. Not forever… One day I’ll catch up…’ The Fiery Joker knelt down to him and cupped his face. ‘But it’s okay… It’s going to be all over soon, Josh.’ he inched closer and Josh didn’t feel a breath on him even though their faces were mere inches away from each other. 

“Y-you’re not here…” Josh said and inhaled sharply. “You’re not real… You can’t be real… I’ve protected myself…”

‘Oh? What makes you think that?’ The Fiery Joker asked. 'You can feel this, can’t you?’ his index finger trailed alongside Josh’s collarbone.

He felt it.

“N-No! You’re not here! I’m hallucinating again!” he shouted, as if trying to convince his own mind.

'Are you? Are you really?’ The Fiery Joker asked and kept caressing him ‘You’re feeling this… All of this…’

Josh wanted to scream, he wanted to fight back, but he couldn’t move. He felt him, he was seeing and hearing him. But there was no breathing on him, even though he was close to him, did The Fiery Joker even have breath? He didn’t know, he couldn’t even think straight with this presence looming above him.

The Fiery Joker traced a smile on Josh’s face that stretched all the way across the cheeks. Josh shuddered, still unable to move and he just closed his eyes, he couldn’t keep on looking at this warped image of himself and he kept feeling The Fiery Joker tracing that smile on his face.

“The Spider turned him ’round about, and went into his den, for well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again: So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly, and set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.” He whispered softly, but for some reason Josh felt his own lips moving, he could feel his hand moving and when he opened his eyes, The Fiery Joker was gone and he was tracing a smile across his face.

He was tired, he was very, very tired and just wanted to sleep.

He couldn’t though, he couldn’t… He didn’t even feel safe surrounded by all these crucifixes. He went into the bathroom and lied into the tub for the rest of the night? Morning? 

He wasn’t even sure anymore. He just lied there and stared wordlessly at the ceiling, trying to stay awake and aware and trying to ignore the noises coming from his room. He felt his left eye twitching and he kept tracing a smile across his face and slowly a grin grew on his face, wide and manic, just like The Fiery Joker’s.

His eye kept on twitching as he struggled to stay awake… As he felt that warmth again, as his body tried to force him to sleep, he reached out to the faucet above him and turned on the cold water and let it fall on him in full stream. It went in through his nose and he quickly sat up, coughing.

At least he was awake again. Josh was cold as well, but he didn’t care he just tried to stay awake. It wasn’t a long term solution, it wasn’t a solution at all… He was still being hunted down, was this any life at all? Quivering in fear, forcing himself to stay awake, hallucinations haunting him during his waking hours. Should he keep on staying awake? Should he fight? Could he fight?

His head hurt and his mouth felt dry.

The monster would wait until he was too worn out to keep on staying awake, so it didn’t matter… He’d falter eventually.

No, The Fiery Joker would get bored and leave him be, right? He was only after him because he was fighting. But how would he know that the demon wasn’t finding some kind of twisted pleasure in watching him destroying himself like that? With shaky legs he got out of the tub and didn’t even bother to get warm. After all, the cold would keep him awake, wouldn’t it? He shifted uncomfortably where he stood.

He couldn’t just stand here, he had to go to class, right? Another sleepless night wouldn’t hurt him, right? He kept standing there for a while, his brain not cooperating with him. He just couldn’t step back into his bedroom, it was as if he was frozen in place.

‘Tired…’ he simply thought, but he got dressed and ready.

‘You’re slipping, Josh…’

He splashed ice cold water at his face and looked at himself in the mirror.

‘I can feel it.’

The reflection had a wide grin and Josh had to remind himself that it was him, not The Fiery Joker and he tried to stop. He’d just go as soon as he stopped grinning. Finally he was ready to go, ignoring the soft laughter he heard in the back of his mind. He looked at the crucifix drawings on the wall for a bit, realizing that they were falling off at time and for some reason he had to smile a bit… The Fiery Joker couldn’t get past these walls, he was safe in here, the only threat were the hallucinations. As long as he wouldn’t fall asleep… In his nightmares he was vulnerable, but here The Fiery Joker couldn’t appear physically, at least that’s how he understood it… But he couldn’t stop hearing this voice and that worried him…

Or maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, a paranoid delusion haunting him as a placeholder for the real monster. Probably that… It’d go away if he’d just sleep, wouldn’t it? He couldn’t allow himself to do that.

He’d walk straight into The Fiery Joker’s net.

Josh stepped outside, bracing himself for the day, another day of him trying to get through classes as aware and awake as possible. The morning went alright, his teachers were all concerned about him though and he was told multiple times he looked sick. Each time he just smiled and shook his head, stating he was alright, he felt good.

Lunch came and went, he drank three cans of energy drinks and occasionally people just looked at him concerned, but he ignored them, after all, he had to focus on staying awake. He could hear him, he was laughing softly, like a predator waiting to strike…

Everything was so distant and echoed, though the laughter was the only thing that felt real at all. Black dots danced in front of his eyes.

‘Not long until you collapse.’

No, he had to hold on… He had to keep going… His knees buckled and his vision grew blurry and then…

Nothing.

 

“Josh…”

Josh woke up, belted to a chair and gagged with a ball gag. The Fiery Joker stood right before him, smiling mockingly at him. “Oh, I knew you couldn’t handle it anymore… I knew you would collapse…” He put a finger under his chin and forced him to look up. “And now that you’re here, the fun can begin…” He ignited one index finger and trailed it along Josh’s neck, obviously enjoying watching him squirm. Josh couldn’t combat the flashing pain of the flame and all he could do was scream against the ball gag and barely thrash around on the chair. The Fiery Joker took notice of that and chuckled. “Still struggling I see? I love it…” He whispered into his ear, licking his lips a little. “I brought your collar.” The Fiery Joker cooed softly and Josh could hear the rattling of the chain, his eyes widened as he screamed against the gag.

Why couldn’t he take control?

“You’re not asleep…” The Fiery Joker spoke, circling him like a lion circling his prey. “You’re unconscious; your body has forcefully shut itself down. You’re here until I decide to let you get away. This isn’t a nightmare… You’re in my world now…”

Josh could feel two hands on his neck as soon as The Fiery Joker stood behind. “Why do you reject me, Josh?” He asked, his voice calm. “Are you just ASSUMING that I plan on hurting you?”

Josh tried to zone out, so he could ignore him, but it was impossible, he could barely focus on anything but the warm breathing right at his ear and the warm hands around his neck. The Fiery Joker squeezed his neck a bit.

“Aren’t you going to answer me? You do know how to nod right?” The Fiery Joker asked, his tone a bit more menacing than before. Josh nodded slowly and the choking stopped.  
“So, Josh… Again… Do you think I’m just going to hurt you all the time?” The Fiery Joker’s hands wandered to his shoulders and Josh nodded, fear on his face.

He heard the rattling chain again and The Fiery Joker stood before him, grinning. “You’re one to always assume the worst about me aren’t you, Josh?”

Josh nodded.

“Well that’s just sad… You never let me finish my offer. It’s true, I can cause you so much pain…”

He freed one of Josh’s hands and pressed it against the spikes on the inside of the collar. A sharp pain went through Josh’s hand, the pain only getting worse as The Fiery Joker rubbed his palm against the spikes.

“I know it hurts…” The Fiery Joker cooed. “But I can make the pain go away…”

The pain was replaced by a wave of pleasure, a pleasure so sudden and intense that an instinctive moan escaped his throat, only slightly muffled by the gag.

“In my world I can completely change your sensory perception, I can turn even the worst of agony into pleasure.” He whispered into Josh’s ear again, trailing an ignited index finger along his neck. Josh shuddered, as he didn’t experience the pain he expected, instead it was this feeling, this pleasure he wanted to go against, but he just couldn’t ignore it.

It was overwhelming, his body just wanted to give into it, his eyes were wide and he felt like he was drooling a little, shaking a little.

“How does this make you feel?”

Josh felt incredibly dirty, knowing that his body wasn’t fighting these sensations if anything it was trying to get more of it. The Fiery Joker laughed softly, digging his nails into Josh’s neck and Josh shuddered again.

“You enjoy it, don’t you? I can make it last… Just nod, that’s all you have to do, then you’ll be mine. Then this hunt will stop.” The Fiery Joker started scratching his arm and singed it slightly at times. Josh knew he couldn’t give in, no pleasure in this world was worth it, but it felt so good, it felt like his brain was melting and he felt himself leaning into The Fiery Joker slightly burning his arms.

“See, Josh? I’m not the evil creature you thought I was…” He put a hand underneath Josh’s chin forcing him to look up at him, this warped reflection of himself glaring at him with a wide sadistic grin.

Josh closed his eyes and shook his head, suddenly overwhelmed by the pain pulsating through his body.

“What a shame, I thought you were smarter than this.” He remarked, causing Josh to shake. Was it from the pain, or fear? He didn’t know, he would probably never know. “I suppose, you’ll be mine either way, Josh… Where else can you run? You’re here as long as I want you to be…”

Josh’s eyes snapped open and he realized it was night, then he realized that he was in the nurse’s office.

“How long have I been out for?” He mumbled, looking around for anyone. He was alone here… Maybe the nurse had gone to sleep and left him here? He wasn’t sure. He just wanted to get to his dorm room as soon as possible and stay there, safe and sound.

But something told him it would be safer to stay in the nurse office… What a silly thought… He had escaped yet again, what was there to be scared of? Maybe The Fiery Joker finally got a clue and would leave him alone, maybe he had given up and moved on?

He just felt well rested now, maybe his body shutting down wasn’t such a bad thing? He got to sleep technically…

He opened the door and looked left and right. The hallway was dark and nobody was there. Figures since it was night already. Who’d be out at night? They were probably all sleeping, or pulling all nighters.

He walked through the empty hallway, hearing nothing but his own breathing. It felt weird being here, as if he shouldn’t be here… Was someone watching him? Josh turned around, breathing heavily. No, he was alone, he had escaped The Fiery Joker’s grips again, of course he was alone… Why wouldn’t he be alone?

He went on, walking to his dorm room, trying to ignore the paranoid feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, trying to ignore the whispers he swore he could hear from time to time. Using his phone as a makeshift flashlight, he kept on walking, the light bringing him a bit of comfort. It seemed all abandoned to him, maybe because not even a janitor seemed to be around, not even the moon seemed to shine through the windows and the night sky seemed different too.

Maybe he imagined all of that, after this weird… ‘vision’ he had with The Fiery Joker. Thinking about it, made this strange tingly feeling return, so he tried to forget it. Thinking about it would give The Fiery Joker too much power.

Finally he stood before his door and felt hesitant, his hand hovered above the doorknob. He just didn’t know what to do… Should he step inside and face whatever potential danger was in there? Or should he stay out here all night?

There couldn’t be anything in there… Right?

Only his bed and all the crucifixes he drew. He opened the door and couldn’t process the initial shock; all the drawings were replaced with copies of the poem ‘The Spider and The Fly’ and his printer kept printing copy after copy of the poem, so much so that the floor was covered with it. Josh walked backwards.

Was he still dreaming?

He started hearing steps that were slowly drawing near, picking up their pace and he started to run away.

“You can’t run away.”

The voice was booming, echoing through the entire hallway. He had to get out of here, he had to find the nearest exit and then get help from someone, ANYONE! His heart was beating, he felt anxious.

“I tried to be nice to you.”

Josh tried to ignore the voice.  
“I really did, Josh… But you didn’t want to play along… How sad.”

He felt his flames behind him, he could feel the monster’s presence behind him and he could hear the laughter and the chain and in a flash of fire, he appeared again, grabbing Josh by the collar, grinning manically at him.

“H-How?” Josh asked confused. “What’s going on, where is everyone?”

“Oh, they’re all unharmed… Remember when I said I decide when you get to wake up?” The Fiery Joker pinned him against the nearest wall, his face close to his now. “Welcome to my world, Josh…”

Josh tried to push him off, but The Fiery Joker was too strong, he could scarcely move, he couldn’t do anything at all, being pinned against this wall. He suddenly had an idea, or at least a vague one. He took a deep breath and started to weigh himself down, sliding downwards, slowly. The Fiery Joker tried to keep him up, but Josh got low enough, low enough to slip away and run into the opposite direction, back to his dorm room, The Fiery Joker on his trail, way too near, the door was close… He slipped into his dorm room and locked the door behind him, grabbing the scissors on his desk and carving a big crucifix into the door.

This had to keep him at bay, if only long enough for him to plan an escape route. He started hearing knocking and painful hissing.  
The crucifix was slowly vanishing…

Then he opened the door and grinned. “Oh, did I make you hope, Josh? Did I make you think that you have any kind of defense in my world?”

“Stay away from me.” Josh said firmly, the scissors and necklace in his grasp. “Just stay away from me.”

“Or what, Josh? What could you possibly do to me?”

Josh had no answer… He was in The Fiery Joker’s world, what could he do to him? He could do nothing to him, nothing at all. The Fiery Joker tilted his head and grinned at him. “I could kill you if I wanted to… But you brought me so much joy these last few weeks.” He stepped forward and Josh stepped away from him.

“Every time you try to fight me, it just motivates me more to make you mine and break you.”

Josh remembered the windows.

He could escape through the windows, but how could he get to them quickly? He looked around for an opportunity, a blind spot. The Fiery Joker chuckled lowly and grinned more and more. “Say, what’re you thinking about? Do you want to get out through the window? Do you want to attack me with the scissors? You can’t hurt me with them here. So what is it going to be, Josh?”

“I-I…”

The Fiery Joker stepped closer. “What will your plan be, Josh? How are you planning to entertain me next?”

He couldn’t escape… Except…

“Joker… You like to hunt your prey, right? I have an offer.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“You let me go and hunt me down.” Josh offered. That was going to be his plan, he would play to The Fiery Joker’s sadism and try to find an escape while running away from him. The Fiery Joker seemed to be thinking about it.

“I’m not fully convinced yet… What’s in it for me and what is stopping you from escaping?”

“The thrill of the hunt.” Josh said. “And isn’t it much more rewarding to get me after you hunted me down like your prey? It’d feel much more like a real reward. This is too easy for you, cornering me and taking me like that. I know you; you want to have some fun. You deserve better.” He was choosing his words wisely. ‘Your prey’, ‘Fun’… He knew he could pull him into the plan like that.

“I like the way you think…”

The Fiery Joker took the bait and turned around.

“I’m giving you thirty seconds to leave, the hunt begins as soon as I stopped counting… One…” 

Josh opened the windows and climbed out, scissors in hand, not looking back at all. All that mattered was to find a hiding spot and then an escape, but the way this world looked disturbed him; There was no sky, only a never ending darkness, that stretched from above to below, with an ice cold wind blowing. The only thing illuminating it were patches of flames he walked by and wandering through this desolate darkness with occasional buildings popping up as he approached them were shadowy figures, varying in size and shape.

Were those his previous victims too?

He saw children amongst the figures and felt a ping of sadness in his chest. He couldn’t get distracted now, he had to escape after all. But the shadowy figures looked at him, pity on their faces.

They seemed to know he couldn’t escape.

Josh kept on walking, picking up the pace, passing by the figures staring him down with these pitiful expressions, as if they knew he’d join their ranks soon, as if they knew this would be his fate as well, damned to wander this nightmarish realm as nothing but a shadowy figure. He wasn’t sure where he was going or where these abandoned buildings were coming from. They were schools, homes, hospitals and so on and he wondered if these were from the memories of the victims, or simply buildings he had burned down.  
A slight murmur, more like a gurgled cry, erupted from the figures and they all recoiled. He smelt smoke and he knew The Fiery Joker was near, he had to run faster if he wanted to get away. He heard steps behind him, inching closer and he walked into the nearest abandoned building to hide. The building had no furniture, no one who lived in it, so he couldn’t hide in here.

He didn’t want to escape through the door, so he went through the window again, stepping into a backyard with a broken swing and burned down plants. He shook his head and jumped the fence, then kept on running, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. The shadowy figures were in his way, he didn’t want to push them away though, some of these figures were children and he couldn’t hurt them.

He passed by a destroyed playground, a little girl sat on a halfway usable swing and looked at him with an impassive expression.

“It hurts.” She said sadly and Josh was startled by the sudden sound. “The fire never goes out. I want to go home.”

He was too scared to say something.

“Can you take me home?”

Josh wished he could.

“He’s going to burn you and take you away from home.”

“What is this place?” Josh asked. The little girl tilted her head. “That’s his home. Daddy said this is the place where all bad people go… But why am I here? I’m not mean…” She started crying. Josh walked towards her and held her.

But what should he tell her? Things wouldn’t be okay, she can’t go home and death probably won’t arrive here.

“Just close your eyes and think about better things.” He said softly. “I know you’re not bad. He is the monster.”

He realized that he was losing time, The Fiery Joker was probably catching up by now, but he had to stay if only for a bit, comfort her just a little bit to make this place more bearable… She was just a child after all. The little girl had closed her eyes and nodded.

“He’s coming… You need to go.” She said. Josh let go and sighed. He felt bad for leaving her here, but if he wanted to survive, he had to keep on going, he had to survive this ordeal and if he’d stick around, The Fiery Joker would find him. But the smell of smoke and the sound of rattling chains became more intense, so he knew he had to escape, so he ran, after the little girl waved him good bye.

He waved back, giving her a hopeful smile before he ran, trying to find an escape.

He wasn’t sure how long he ran, he just knew that he was far away from the buildings and flames and stood in nothing but darkness, he could barely see anything without the infrequent flames lighting up the place. But he went on into that non-specific direction he was walking. He heard nothing, he saw nothing and he felt so utterly alone. Maybe if he reached the edge he could leave this place behind.

One more step.

He felt so cold, he had no idea where he was, his head hurt a little bit and he was tired. How long had he been walking for? Should he take a break? No, taking a break would be risky since The Fiery Joker could catch up on him unannounced. All he heard by now was his own breathing, the beating of his own heart, the blood rushing in his head and the echoing footsteps. Inch by inch he went forward, not knowing where or what would wait for him in the unknown. Would he even find an exit there?

A flame illuminated the unknown path before him and he felt drawn to it, like a moth drawn to a light bulb.

Another flame.

It burned, it was inviting as if it was guiding him to a safe place… Or maybe a trap set by The Fiery Joker? He walked on, clenching his hands to fists and the thought occurred to him: Maybe the flames appeared as he walked on to create a new path. Or maybe he was getting closer to a new place…

The Fiery Joker wasn’t anywhere near him, so maybe he was right, maybe there was hope. He kept on walking towards the flames, ignoring this strange anxiousness he suddenly felt. He was alone, wasn’t he?

As he kept going, flames lit up left and right from him, building a way that were guiding him to a place, maybe the escape?  
And then he saw it and his face lit up with hope.

A church, in the middle of nowhere stood a church tall and strong. It wasn’t burned and it didn’t seem desolate and abandoned unlike all the other buildings he had come across, making him wonder what it was doing here.

Maybe that was the escape he was looking for? He was going to take a chance, after all, The Fiery Joker hated these kind of things, he was weak to them and they caused him pain. And it made him feel safe.

He stood in front of the oak doors and opened them, holding the scissors for self defense. Something might still be in there. The doors creaked softly and it was dark and cold inside as well, but as his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness he saw benches, a confessional booth and mosaic windows. He recognized an altar, with unlit candles surrounding it and right next to him a holy water font. He blessed himself with it and walked deeper into the church. In the dark he noticed a figure standing at the altar.  
“H-Hello?” Josh asked, in hope that this might be someone who could help him, maybe another survivor like him.

“Hey! Who are you?” Josh asked into the darkness and suddenly felt scared.

The figure tilted its head and seemed to be holding something and then it read and that raspy voice left Josh standing there in disbelief. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

He walked to the candleholders behind him and lit the candles.

Here he stood, The Fiery Joker, grinning at him.

“Have you read the bible, Josh? I’m sure you have. I personally hate the New Testament. Too much goodwill and kindness. The old one’s where the fun is at, with a vengeful god willing to destroy his own creations and start anew, just like me…” He burned the bible he was holding and Josh stepped backwards.

“No! You shouldn’t be able to be in here, you’re afraid of these things! Or at least they seem to be causing you pain.”

“Well… Josh. This is my world.”

“Wait, why would you put a church into your own world?” Josh asked and The Fiery Joker walked to him, stood right before him and put his hand underneath his chin.  
“I made this just for you, Josh. I wanted you to feel at home, maybe I can finally convince you to be mine.”

Josh pushed him away and he heard The Fiery Joker hiss with pain as their hands brushed together. “You used the holy water, haven’t you? I probably shouldn’t have put it there.”  
So… He was still weak to the holy water? Maybe because water would weaken him either way him being a being seemingly made of fire, but the holy water was causing him more pain… Josh felt the scissors he’s been carrying around in his hand. He stepped backwards. “Listen, Joker, I don’t want anything to do with you, so stay away from me!” His expression was stern, his voice fierce, he was obviously trying to convince himself that he wasn’t scared of this monster, but it didn’t seem to work. With each step he came closer, Josh felt fear creeping up on him, the hair on his neck standing up.

“Do you think I’ll give you a say in the matter? Just be happy that I didn’t burn you alive, like all the others.” The Fiery Joker held the chain tightly, licking his lips. “Stand still now…” He stalked closer to him, fire coming from the edges of his mouth. Josh shifted his gaze around to look for a quick escape. He knew letting The Fiery Joker out of view would make him vulnerable, but at the same time in order to reach the holy water font, he had to turn his back to him. He needed a different strategy…  
Josh suddenly had an idea.

He started walking backwards, carefully so he wouldn’t trip. He knew there was nothing behind him, except the entrance and the holy water container. He always kept him in his sight.

“No. I’m not going down without a fight, you hear me?” Josh spat out, trying to hide the shakiness of his voice. The Fiery Joker shook his head, clicking his tongue.  
“I know you’re scared, Josh. You use that tone to hide it, aren’t you?”

“I’m not afraid of you. You hear me? I’m not afraid of you! Stay the heck away from me!” Josh felt the locked doors against his back.

“‘Heck?’ How cute…” The beast cooed. Josh put the scissors into the water and the holy water container cracked and broke, the scissors falling down with a clattering sound. The Fiery Joker, again, clicked his tongue in a condescending manner, shaking his head. “Dirty tricks in a church? Josh I expected better from you.”  
A fire blast nearly hit him, but Josh went down in time to dodge. He looked upwards, shaking slightly, his face finally reflecting the fear he felt. The Fiery Joker towered above him, both arms ignited. “I’m done playing games.”

Josh looked at the scorched door, the candles at the altar burning brighter than before coloring the entire hall in red. He had to crawl away, he had to get away, but only if he could grab the scissors. Without it he’d be defenseless. Reaching out he tried to grab it, but The Fiery Joker stomped on his hand with his boot.  
“Didn’t you listen?” He asked. “Do you ever listen, Josh?”

He tried to pull away, but he could feel the heel of the boot digging deeper into the back of his hand, until Josh couldn’t feel anything there, but a slight pulsating pain. “Who’s going to help you here, Josh? Who’s going to help you, huh?” The Fiery Joker asked in a mocking tone, kicking his stomach. Josh keeled over, just holding his stomach in pain, shaking a tiny bit. He looked upwards and was met with a wide grin, he tried to crawl away again and was kicked in his side. Josh fell to the ground with a pained wheeze and was kicked in the stomach over and over again, until The Fiery Joker grabbed him by the collar and slammed him harshly against the wall, knocking the air out of his lungs and causing him to gasp.

“Come on, Josh… Say it, say what they all say… ‘God! Please help me god!’!” He said in a mocking tone, slamming him against the wall again.  
Josh couldn’t speak, he had to take a deep breath, trying to wriggle out of his tight grip.

“COME ON SAY IT!” The Fiery Joker grabbed him by the forehead and slammed the back of his head against the wall.

“G-God…” Josh had to gasp for air again, he felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen and things became blurry. “G-God… help me…”

“Oh Josh… You didn’t understand the joke, did you… You’re asking God to save you… How ironic.”

“What d-do you mean…?” Josh asked terrified and confused, regaining a grasp on everything again, but he was promptly pinned harshly to the wall again, The Fiery Joker pressing his arm against his neck to hold him in place.

“Josh… Look at me!”

Josh looked away, shifting his gaze from this being.

“NO! YOU’RE GOING TO LOOK AT ME!” The Fiery Joker yelled at him.

Josh was slammed against the wall again and he looked at The Fiery Joker, who just giggled in a sinister manner.

“Your god can’t help you in my world, Josh…” He let out a maniacal laugh and holding him by the collar still he pulled him close, their faces mere inches away from each other, the red glow reflected in Josh’s eyes that were displaying nothing but fear and helplessness.

“IN THIS WORLD, I AM GOD!”

His insane laughter echoed throughout the church, a psychotic laugh that shook Josh to his core.

“I DECIDE WHETHER YOU LIVE OR DIE! YOUR 'GOD’ CAN DO JACK SHIT HERE!” The Fiery Joker let go of Josh who just fell to the ground.

The Fiery Joker stepped on him and pinned him down to the ground this time.

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND JOSH? DO YOU FINALLY UNDERSTAND?!” He stomped on his back, grinding the heel of his boot into Josh’s spine. “DO YOU GET IT!? YOU’RE NOTHING! YOU’RE A VICTIM! A PLAYTHING TO PASS MY TIME WITH! A LITTLE FLY CAUGHT IN MY WEB!” As The Fiery Joker yelled, Josh tried to crawl away, but another kick to the side made him curl up in pain. The Fiery Joker seemed more agitated. “I TRIED TO DO IT THE NICE WAY! BUT YOU WOULDN’T PLAY ALONG! YOU THINK YOUR GOD IS SCARY WHEN HE’S MAD?!”

The Fiery Joker laughed and forced Josh to stand up, grabbing him by the throat.

His voice was distorted but he spoke in a calm and eerie tone, as if he was holding back anger begging for release. “Yo̶u͝ ha̷ve̴ ͏n̨o ̶ide͜a w̶ha͘t̶ I͟'͡m ̕c̶apab̕le ̡of͢.”  
Agony shook Josh’s body and it felt like the flames of hell were burning him up from inside. With each moment the burning grew more intense, black dots formed in front of his eyes and everything grew blurrier and blurrier. He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t beg, he couldn’t even move.

“̕This c͟ouĺd'͞v͝e bee͠n ̛s̨ó eas͞y.҉ ̷A͞l̕l̴ you ͢ha̢d ̷to̸ ̢d҉o ͞wa̵s̸ a̴gŗe҉e.͢ ͟N̴ow lo͝ǫk͏ a̴t̵ you.̛ T҉ake a ͝g͘ood ͘look ͘a͠t ̧yǫur̨s͝e̸lf Jǫs͝h.͏ Wh҉a̶t was ̨i͘t th͘a҉t ͢d͏ro̶v̡e͞ ̢you ́to̶ r̨esis̨t ̷me?͘ ͝Fe̢a͢r?̶ S͝tu̵p͟id҉i͠t̕y͟?̸"̧ He grinned. “͡P̧ridè?"͡

Josh wanted to shake his head, wanted to shout as the painful feeling was eating away at his senses and every sensation, every touch, was replaced with this burning feeling.  
And then it stopped and he felt cold, The Fiery Joker dropped him and Josh fell to his knees, coughing up blood, but why wasn’t he dead?  
"I-I’m… alive…” He wheezed confused, wrapping his arms around himself.

“As I said, I decide if you live or die here.” The Fiery Joker spoke with his raspy voice again. “So why, Josh? Why would you rather suffer than be mine?”

Josh felt anger swelling up in him and he spat blood at the creature. “I’d rather be dead than become your 'toy’. You’re not a god, you’re a monster.”

The Fiery Joker knelt down to him and cupped his face, almost tenderly. “How much fight do you have left inside of you?”

“Enough to stop you.” Josh said, trying to keep his voice steady and stronger than he felt.

“I didn’t take you, of all people, as a liar, Josh.”

An ignited fist collided with his face and Josh could feel blood running out of his nose and blisters on his face. He had no chance of fighting back, but he had to try anyway. He curled his hand to a fist and stood up on shaky legs. “I’m… G-going to stop-” He realized how dizzy he felt. “Stop you… You can’t… Win…” He swung at him, but The Fiery Joker blocked the attack and grabbed his fist, then ignited his own hand, causing Josh to scream and get on his knees, as he tried to yank his hand out of the other’s grip.

The Fiery Joker shook his head in disapproval.

Josh knew he needed another plan, any plan… The scissors, he had to get to the scissors… He had to free himself first though and in the position he was in, he could try and kick him… Josh kicked The Fiery Joker’s shin, who seemed to be more surprised than pained and let him go. Josh used all of his strength to crawl towards the scissors, and before he could grab them, he was hit by a fire blast to his back. His knees buckled again and he fell into the puddle of holy water, shards of the container digging into his legs and stomach, his blood and tears mixing with the water…

The scissors were close and The Fiery Joker couldn’t see them… He extended his hand and grabbed it, hiding them inside his sleeve hoping, praying even, that the holy water on them wouldn’t dry. He rolled onto his back. Another plan… He needed another idea…

His lips curled to a weak smile. He knew just what to do, he knew this beast wouldn’t resist this, but he knew that there was a chance that it’d fail and he’d be lost. He remained still though for a few seconds, just to make him think he was weakened.

“Joker…”

The Fiery Joker towered above him and he could feel the other’s gaze resting on his body. “Yes?”

“You’re right… I can’t fight anymore… I’m tired.” He wheezed out, coughing up more blood. “I want this to end, just take me…” He begged. “Just take me already.”

“Finally you came to your senses. After this, I’ll have to clean you up… Though bloodied and dirty is a good look on you.”

Josh nodded and stood up, walking towards him, the scissors still up his sleeve. The Fiery Joker held the gold chain, rattling it mockingly. Josh suppressed the urge to grin, this was funny to him, the fact that The Fiery Joker thought he had already won was going to be hilarious in hindsight.

The Fiery Joker held Josh’s face in his hands. “See? Wasn’t that easy?”

Josh suppressed the urge to the tense up in disgust under the touches, but he wouldn’t, he would act like he was giving into them.

“It was…” Josh agreed. The Fiery Joker seemed pleased by that answer, since now his touches were loving, almost, sincerely tender and soft. Josh forced himself to smile softly at him. “I was stupid, trying to resist you… I stand no chance against a god.” It sickened him to speak these words but in order to catch him off guard he had to deceive him.

It seemed to work, The Fiery Joker’s eyes lit up with excitement as he heard these shallow words, he pulled him closer, digging his nails into Josh’s back.

“Good…” He said, with an excited quiver in his voice.

Josh could hear the rattling chain behind him, so it was on The Fiery Joker’s arm. Should he strike now?

“I can’t fight you forever… I might as well become yours.”

Now wasn’t the right moment.

“Josh…” The Fiery Joker was breathing heavily, pressing his heaving body tighter against Josh’s, his nails digging deeper into his slightly scorched back, he moaned with a distorted voice “̨Call͢ m̨e̡ ̛'Mas̢t͘e͢r'̷…"́

Josh smiled. Now or never. He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around The Fiery Joker and whispered into his ear "Yes, Master…” and then he was let go. He stood there, The Fiery Joker approaching him with the collar…

Josh smiled even more.

The attack was fast, so fast the other could barely register it. With his last bit of strength, Josh had managed to stab at The Fiery Joker, right into his left eye. He let out a feral and inhuman screech as he tried to pull out the scissors. The candles turned into one big fire, the mosaic windows shattered raining colored glass onto them, the balconies on the upper levels came crashing down and the floor started to crack open and little flames burst out from the cracks. With each passing second the church became more infernal, as everything around them caught fire. Blood ran down the demon’s face, a big gaping and disgusting wound where his eye used to be. The Holy Water must’ve taken effect too, since he was still howling in agony and Josh could hear the sound of searing flesh and muscle tissue tearing.

“YOU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! I’M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOUR LAST FEW MINUTES ARE GOING TO BE FILLED WITH UNFATHOMABLE AGONY!” The Fiery Joker screamed as he pulled out the scissors and threw them on the ground. He staggered towards Josh, obviously weakened. Josh tried to focus on something, anything but the demon approaching…  
He had to finish the job and he knew how. But how much strength had he left to do it with? He could barely stand, stabbing him had taken almost all energy out of him, he could barely focus on anything, the heat making it only worse. He saw him swing the chain as a weapon and heard it crashing down next to him as he dodged it, the attack to his eye blinded him, so Josh had a huge advantage. He crawled towards the benches for cover and he heard behind him the splintering of wood and the rattling of the chain. What The  
Fiery Joker lacked in eyesight, he made up with fury.

“C͡OM͢E O̸U̴T YǪƯ ҉LI̡TTLE ͘S͞H͘IT̵!̴"͜

He heard more crashing and splintering, Josh crawled on. He had to get the scissors and soak them with the holy water again, then keep stabbing him until he was dead.

'Thou shall not kill.’

Josh swallowed the lump in his throat. He had to kill that beast if he wanted to survive.

He flinched when the chain hit close to him and crawled on. His plan was to crawl to the end of this row and then go to the one nearer to the scissors, which was the next row.  
Almost there.

His heartbeat went faster and faster, fear was building inside him and he was tearing up. Josh shook his head and wiped away the tears, he wouldn’t break down, not when victory and freedom was this close, he’d keep going, he made it through Marine training, he’d get through this as well. A hand wrapped itself around his ankle and Josh kicked it away.  
The chain crashed down in front of him and Josh rolled underneath the bench, nearly holding his breath.

"̀WH̛E̴RE ͞D̸I̴D̴ ͘YO̢U G͏O?͞!͢ WHERE ͢DID ̴Y͞OU F̀UCKIN̨G G̡O?̡! ̴C͝OME O͢ÚT̸ A̧ND͡ ̨FIGH̢T ME YO͠U ͟F̛U͜CKI͜N͢G̷ COWAR҉D!͡"̨

Josh didn’t speak, he kept on pushing himself underneath the bench. The Fiery Joker hadn’t seen him hide and with his limited eyesight…

He quickly slipped into the next row, hiding once again. He could hear more carnage behind as The Fiery Joker destroyed every row of benches behind him in hopes of finding him. Slowly but steadily, he moved forwards and grabbed the scissors. The fire had by now spread to the broken benches and the heat worsened, beads of sweat were on his forehead and he struggled to grasp the scissors. At least the smoke wouldn’t be a problem since the windows were all broken open. He hid behind the altar, dangerously close to the fire and grabbed some smaller piece of debris, then threw it not too far, yet not too close. As planned it made a loud clattering sound.

“Hehe… There you are…”

Josh curled up more behind the altar, trying to stay away from the fire. He heard the steps, he heard the giggling and heavy breathing and he almost didn’t look upwards, in fear he’d see The Fiery Joker’s wide and maniacal grin.

“Come on… I thought you were a fighter… Come on, Josh…”

The Fiery Joker had his back turned to him.

Josh sneaked away, quietly, scarcely breathing again, afraid it’d give him away, it was near silence, the only thing disrupting it was the crackling of the fire and the sound of benches falling apart that echoed within the place. The puddle was still there, the flames were reflected in the water and he knelt in it, wetting the scissors.

“THERE YOU ARE!”

The Fiery Joker ran towards him and Josh stood tall and faced him, they collided, but Josh had the scissors extended and the demon was stabbed. Josh pushed him to the ground and he was on top of him and he felt his lips curl to a wide grin.

“Finally… It’s going to be over, it’s going to be all over!” Josh announced, his chest heaving up and down, as he felt The Fiery Joker wiggle helplessly underneath him, the holy water causing him obvious pain.

“Who’s laughing now?” Josh asked and stabbed into his chest. “WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?!” He spat out, breathing faster, his hands were covered in blood, but he kept going, shouting ‘WHO’S LAUGHING NOW’ between each stab, feeling this demon twitch underneath him, gurgle and sputter blood. “WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?!” Josh yelled and stabbed into The Fiery Joker’s chest one last time, before he keeled over, shaking violently with tears in his eyes. “DO YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY? NONE OF YOUR FUNNY REMARKS?! COME ON JOKER, TELL ME: WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?!”

The Fiery Joker’s hand twitched and slipped free and took Josh’s hand that was drenched in blood and pressed it to his cheek, then put his own hand on Josh’s.

“I’m p-proud of you…”

“Sh-Shut up!” Josh said, trying to keep up the newly found energy he got.

“Wrath… You were taken over by wrath… I’m so proud… Of you…”

“Just die, DIE!” Josh stabbed him one more time, but shuddered when The Fiery Joker softly stroked his face and grinned widely at him, blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

"̨T͜ho͝u ̕sh͜a͞ļt͞ not ͜ķill.͠.̛.͏"̴

The fire that seemed to be burning behind The Fiery Joker’s right eye died out, his body stopped twitching and Josh was still shaken. He was angry, he was beyond angry. This monster had tormented him and he died with a wide grin on his face. Josh was suddenly tired again and he stood up, trying to open the door, but he couldn’t all he saw was a hole, just big enough to stick his hand through it.

He scratched against it as the flames grew and he screamed for help, until his throat hurt, he knocked helplessly against the huge doors, his only means of escape. He leaned with his back against watching the altar go up in flames and it became unbearably hot. He looked upwards and quietly prayed for help then dipped his hand in the leftover holy water, to bless himself shakily.

“Amen…” He whispered quietly. Did he do it right? He didn’t know, his mind was in shambles he wasn’t sure of anything anymore. He was going to die here anyway, he was going to burn alive in this nightmare realm and become a shadowy figure. He flinched when he heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

A metal pole, most likely from the upper levels. He grabbed it, hissing at the slight burning.

“I can’t give up… If I give up, he won anyway…”

He put the metal pole into the hole, then started heaving. Another boost of strength went through his body and shook him. He heaved more and more, hearing splintering and the cracking of wood. He crawled outside and behind him the entire church crumbled and collapsed, all that was left was a burning ruin. Josh walked a few steps to get away but eventually collapsed and curled up on the ice cold ground. It was dead silent, as if time had stood still.

Home.

That’s all he wanted now.

He wanted to go home.

The sound of footsteps made him flinch, but those weren’t his footsteps. These were softer and he felt a tiny hand grab his.

“It’s okay…”

He recognized the voice of the little girl he had comforted.

“Just close your eyes and think about better things. Now that he’s gone, it’ll stop hurting.”

Josh smiled at her. “I will…”

“Goodbye”

Josh closed his eyes and all he could think of was home. He felt like he was sinking into the ground and then he felt like he was floating. Josh fell asleep and gave into the sinking sensation.

He was alive.

He was going home.

 

The sinking feeling had stopped and he felt comfortable, but where was he? As he opened his eyes, he realized he was in a hospital bed, there were bandages on the places where he had been burned, the blood on his body was cleaned off. He blinked some more and started to look around some more.

He saw his brother Jeremy sitting at a table, sleeping. Josh couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Psst!” Josh made the same noise louder in order to wake him up. “Rise and shine!” He pinched the bridge of his nose a little. He kept smiling a little amused at his brother. “Hey! Are you going to wake up or not?”

“I’m up.” Jeremy sat up and looked at Josh. “Josh, what happened?”

Josh paused. What happened? Too much to explain, but he didn’t want to lie to a family member. Then again, how would he explain to anyone that demons attacked him? He just couldn’t, it was impossible, he himself didn’t believe that it happened anyway. Josh looked at his bandaged hands and looked away.

“It was kinda weird.” Jeremy said. “You were in front of our door injured and burned, after you disappeared for three whole days, not to mention that weird black gunk on your hands.”

Josh nodded.

“You were gone without a trace, we got the police involved. I still have our Skype conversations.”

“Jeremy, I don’t know how to tell you what happened. I’m afraid that you won’t believe me.”

Jeremy stood up and put a soft hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Josh, I know you. I know that you’re not going to lie to me. If the story is too weird we can always just call it a nightmare, or something. Alright?”

“Okay… Where are the others though?”

“In the cafeteria. I told them, I’d go get them once you woke up. But come on, I know you’re stalling.”

“I am.” Josh nodded. “I am stalling. But I guess there’s no point in biding my time, huh?”

“Not really. You’ll have to talk about it eventually.”

Josh nodded and took a deep breath.

He told him everything; The nightmares, the hallucinations, the attacks, the offer and being dragged into the other dimension and apparently being trapped there for two real life days, even though it seemed like nothing but hours to him. Once he was done, he looked at his brother, who just looked back at him kind of puzzled.

“Are you sure the painkillers didn’t mess with your head?” Jeremy asked.

Josh nodded. “Everything I told you happened, alright? You have to believe me!”

“But a pyromaniac who’s also a demon and became infatuated with you… I’m not sure if I can believe you that.”

“You don’t have to.” Josh shifted in his bed a little. “At least you listened to the whole story.“

"I’ll just smile and nod politely.” Jeremy chuckled softly. So did Josh. The two looked awkwardly at each other. “Well, should I get you something before I get the others?”  
“Could you get me a bottle of water?”

“This I can do.” Jeremy got up. “I’ll be right back with you, okay?”

 

As soon as Jeremy had left, Josh lied back and looked at his bandaged hands. He knew that it happened, he knew that it was real. He got up to go to the bathroom, to splash some water on his face, he felt a bit feverish, or maybe the heater was just turned up too high.

He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about heat right now, he just wanted to splash some water on his face and lie back down. His gaze shifted from left to right and he felt oddly paranoid, but who wouldn’t after what he went through? It was normal to still feel watched after everything that happened. He opened the bathroom door, turned on the light and closed the door behind him again. It was strangely warm in the bathroom too and he wondered why. Maybe he was imagining things. He turned on the faucet and took off his bandages on his hand. He sighed as he looked at the burns; They weren’t too bad, but would be there for a while. The blisters on his face were gone so that was taken care of.

The cool water felt soothing on his face, but it also made him more aware of how warm it was in the bathroom. Maybe he should just ignore it, it helped him before after all… He’s dead anyway, he was just paranoid. As he grabbed the door handle, he recoiled a little. It felt hot, hotter than it should be.

He shook.

“No…” It couldn’t be.

He clogged the sink and turned on the faucet again, so water would overflow. Just in case. He looked at his reflection in the mirror again and smiled, shaking his head. He needed to calm down and just get over with and honestly listening to the water splashing onto the ground was rather soothing. He had the beast’s blood on his hands that meant something right? He grinned a little, his soft smile curling into a manic grin… Or at least his reflection did. Josh stepped away and his heart started to beat faster when he smelt smoke and his reflection fully contorted; The Fiery Joker crawled out of the mirror, his left eye still gauged out, still covered in stab wounds.

“NO!” Josh screamed in horror and tried to open the door, but by now the door handle had gotten so hot, he couldn’t even touch it. The water on the floor was vaporizing too, filling the whole room with steam and making it hard to breathe.  
“I killed you…” Josh said as he helplessly cowered against the door. “I KILLED YOU!”

“You can’t kill me, Josh. You just… Put me out. Long enough for all these souls I collected to escape.” The Fiery Joker spoke, suppressed anger in his overtly sweet tone. “But I won’t hold it against you. As a matter of fact, I still want you as part of my personal collection… And together we can recreate the world YOU FUCKING DESTROYED!”

The sudden shout made Josh flinch, The Fiery Joker grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, holding the chain.

“I’m going to hold you in high regards… After I broke you.” He whispered into Josh’s ear. The handle was moved and the door opened and Josh’s eyes widened in horror, when he saw his brother standing in the door frame.

“JEREMY! JEREMY RUN!” Josh yelled out to him but Jeremy, obviously driven by a protective instinct, threw one of the water bottles at The Fiery Joker that hit his temple. The demon turned his head to Jeremy.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU… WHAT ARE YOU?” Jeremy asked furiously.

“JEREMY SERIOUSLY, RUN AWAY! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HE’S CAPABLE OF!”

"̕OH̕ ҉D̸O̴N̸'̶T͠ BE͞ ̢LIK͘E T̸H̛A͞T!͠ ͠WE͜ ̧SH͞O͝ULD͞ ͞LET Y̛OUR ҉B͡RO͘T̶HER͜ ̨JOI̷N͘ IN̡ ͏O̡N T͞HĘ FU͘N͘!̛”

The door slammed shut and The Fiery Joker stood up, grinning at the other. The Fiery Joker’s hands ignited and he asked “He should be the first soul to inhabit our new world, shouldn’t he?” He laughed, his laughter echoing through the entire bathroom. Josh got up and splashed water on The Fiery Joker, but it vaporized immediately, the only effect was his fire getting less bright.

Another plan, he needed another plan and quick. He heard a thud and The Fiery Joker stepped back, looking dazed. Josh wasted no time, he grabbed him by the forehead and smashed his head against the mirror to buy even more time.

The chain.

Amongst the steam and the chaos he saw the collar and chain and he had an idea. A last resort. He was afraid that it wouldn’t work, but he had to make it work. Josh looked over to Jeremy and shouted. “GRAB HIM!”

“WHAT?!”

“TRUST ME!” Josh shouted. “I HAVE AN IDEA.”

“THAT IDEA BETTER WORK!” And before The Fiery Joker could react, Jeremy had grabbed him from behind and he started to snarl angrily, trying to break loose. Josh made it quick and felt relieve like he never had before, when he heard the collar click and the monster let out a ferocious screech of anger.

Josh and The Fiery Joker merged and it felt like he was on fire, he screamed, kneeling on the ground. Josh started to hyperventilate as the demon tried to break out of him again, Jeremy tried to hold him, but Josh pushed him away.

“No! S-Stay away… LET ME GO! I’m trying to keep him inside!” Josh started shaking, his body felt like white iron and inside his head he heard The Fiery Joker scream in agony and anger, as he pulled on his restraint and tried to free himself. Josh covered his face and screamed with the voice of The Fiery Joker “LET ME GO! THIS ISN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, I AM YOUR MASTER, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!”

He felt his brother’s arms around him and the burning slowly stopped, the deafening screams that echoed inside his head slowly died down until it was silent and then it was all over.

They were kneeling quietly, just holding each other.

“Was that…?”

Josh nodded. “That was him. That was him Jeremy. B-But… he’s gone. I sealed him into my mind. He’s gone…”

Jeremy nodded and softly rubbed his back.

“I’m tired.” Josh said. “Jeremy I’m tired, I just… I want to lie down.”

“You do that, I’ll get everyone later, alright?”

Josh nodded and Jeremy helped him up. Josh could barely stand, he was staggering, he was in pain still and his ears felt like they were still ringing from the screaming that had echoed inside his own mind.

Jeremy helped him to lie down.

“Josh… Do you want me to stay here?”

“No… Go eat something, come… Come back in an hour.” Josh said. Jeremy nodded and left. Josh closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 

He was dreaming and he stood within a dimly lit room, there was only a bare light bulb in here and a thick glass wall in front of the demon. Josh looked at him, the being that once tormented him was kneeling, a collar with a chain attached holding him back, shackles around his ankles his hands tied behind his back.

“Josh…” That raspy voice and insane grin still made shivers run down Josh’s spine. “You came to visit me.”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re restrained.” Josh spoke, swallowing any emotions building up inside of him. The Fiery Joker chuckled cruelly and tried to inch closer to the blockade. Josh stepped backwards and the only sounds now were the rattling chains. Josh took another deep breath, to remain calm and he stood tall.

“You’re not getting out of here, alright?”

“At least I’m with you.” The Fiery Joker just retorted, licking his lips. Josh let out a shaky breath and he could hear him laugh again. “Aw, Josh, don’t be so mad… Though you’re really cute when you’re angry. Say, do you remember our poem Josh…? ‘Step into my parlor’ said the spider to the fly…”

This ended the conversation right here. Josh turned around, his hands clenched to fists and closed his eyes. “It’s over. You can’t do anything to me anymore.”

“Foolish little fly…”

Josh walked away and behind him he heard soft humming, that turned into full on singing and Josh shuddered at the sound of this raspy voice singing to him.  
“We’ll meet again… Don’t know where… Don’t know when…”

Josh could feel the beast smile at him and another shudder of disgust shook him.

“B̨u̶t I̛ kn̢ow, we'͞ll̛ mee͘t a̕ga̧in͘..̸. S̨o͜me s҉un͏n͘y d̶a͝y…̧”

Josh woke up and stared at the ceiling. Just now he noticed the crucifix on the nightstand. He held it tightly and smiled.

He won…

Yet that voice echoed throughout his mind…

“̧The S̕pid̢e̷r ̨turn͢e̸d̷ him̷ ̛r̷o͠u҉nd ̢a̷b͏ǫưt, an̨d͜ ̵w͡en͟t ̕i̧n̨to͡ ͝his ̸d̡e̕n,̵ for we͡ll h͏e ҉knew͠ th͟e ̴si̧ļly Fly҉ w̴oul͠d̢ ̢s̕o̧o̶n com͡e̷ b̨a̴ck ̛a̶ga͢i̢n:̛ S͡o h̢e͟ w̵ove҉ a͢ s͢u͞b͠t͠l̶e ̸w̴e͟b̡,͞ in̕ a͞ ̕li҉t͝tl̛e c͢o͡rn͞e͡r ̨sly,͢ an͏d s̶et ḩis͏ ̨t͡ąb̵l͞e r̢eady,͏ ̢t͘o ̧d͟i͘n̛e u̷p̧o̵n ͝the̡ F̶ly̶.͠

Josh could feel him grin once again and then nothing. He held the crucifix tightly and waited for his family to walk in. It was all over. The demon was just bluffing.  
At least he hoped…

 

The narrator put down the bible yet again and looked up, casting a small shadow in this dimly lit room.

“In order to defeat this monster, Josh had to step down to his level. Sad to think that in the end the demon had the last laugh. Or was it merely to mess with him, making Josh think he hadn’t won after all and that it was all in vain?”

He paused, as if to think.

“Nobody can truly understand the goal of this demon, a demon that can only exist in the Twilight Zone.”

THE END


End file.
